While the shooting percentage wasn’t the same as last Saturday, the results were for the Wabash basketball team. The Little Giants advanced to the championship game of the 13th Pete Thorn Invitational on Saturday after dispatching Upper Iowa University 68-63 in the Friday night contest.
It was a struggle from the outset for the Little Giants. Wabash hit only 8-of-34 shots in the opening period for 23-percent, but used good free throw shooting to keep the Peacocks within seven points. Between free throws and three pointers, the Wabash squad stayed even with Upper Iowa throughout the final seven minutes of the first half. Senior Zeljko Gavranovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina/St. Mary's, AZ) (left) cut the seven-point advantage by the Peacocks to four with a trey, followed by a layup and free throw by sophomore Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) for the old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 17-16 game. Another Lyttle layup gave the Little Giants their first lead since the 13-minute mark when Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) canned a three for a 10-8 Wabash lead.
Upper Iowa ran its advantage back up to three points before freshman Matt Shook (Kendallvile, IN/East Noble) sliced it to one with four minutes remaining in the opening period. Neither team scored again until junior David Wagner (Belleville, IL/Belleville) nailed a layup and converted the free throw attempt to five the Little Giants a 23-21 lead. UIU’s Mike Jackosn grabbed a steal and a layup after a Wabash rebound to tie the game with 1:06 left, then saw his teammate, Craig Brown, score with 18 ticks left on the clock. It appeared the Peacocks would head to the locker room with the lead.
But sophomore George Colokivic (Munster, IN/Munster)(right), who earned his first career start after playing on the junior varsity squad one week earlier, nailed a three-point shot just ahead of the buzzer to give Wabash a 26-25 halftime edge.
While the Little Giants only connected on eight first-half shots, four were from behind the three-point arc. Wabash was also perfect from the stripe, hitting 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Wabash jumped out to a 12-point lead with 13:19 left in the second half, paced by the offensive efforts of sophomore Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) (left), who canned a three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back trips up the floor, and a putback basket by junior Nate Bell (Ft. Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran). But the Little Giants would start to go cold from the field and the free throw line down the stretch. At one point the Little Giants missed seven consecutive free throws, letting the Peacocks cut the lead to three with just 33 seconds left in the contest. The Little Giants finally found the range from the stripe in the final seconds. Colakovic and Joseph connected on four straight charity tosses to keep the lead at five to send the Little Giants to the championship game for the second consecutive season.
Wabash (3-5) will face Marian College (5-0) in the title contest for the second straight year. The Knights defeated Kendall College 94-46 in the opening game of the tournament. Four Marian players scored in double figures, led by the 14-point effort of Zack Reuter. Wabash beat Marian 67-53 in last year’s game.
Colakovic made the most of his first career start, pacing Wabash with 15 points. Medeiros added 14 and Lyttle tossed in 11. Gavranovic finished with game-best 10 rebounds.