 Senior Joe DesJean scored 21 points to lead Wabash over Ohio Wesleyan 69-63 |
Senior guard Brady Claxton poured in 16 points and junior guard Matt Storm added 10 points, all in the first half, to propel the Little Giants into the semi-final round of the tournament against top-seeded College of Wooster.
The semi-finals will be played Friday night at Wooster.
Wabash (16-9) was lifted by a packed house of rowdy student fans. The Little Giants had fallen behind by seven, 28-21, just before half, but Storm canned a couple of three-pointers down the stretch—including a steal and trey at the halftime buzzer—to give Wabash a 33-31 lead at the break.
DesJean was tough in the closing moments of the game. He scored nine of Wabash's final 18 points and blocked a pair of Ohio Wesleyan shots. The fans were in a frenzy in the final 10 minutes of the game, and helped Wabash limit the Bishops to just three field goals over that span.
Wabash was not helped by the loss of Eric Buck to an ankle injury in the first half. But Ryan Short (6 points, 3 rebounds) and Jesse Burgess (2 points, 3 rebounds) filled the void.
Rookie guard Chris Watters scored six points with seven rebounds, and fellow rookie Kyle Medeiros added six points as well.
Wabash won at Wooster during the regular season last year, but has never beaten the Scots in NCAC Tournament Play.
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