Wabash and Wittenberg stepped up the defensive pressure on Wednesday night, but it was the Tigers coming out on top in the end. The Little Giants lost their first conference game of the season 58-46 to a Wittenberg team that also came into the contest undefeated in North Coast Athletic Conference action.
The Little Giants actually outscored Wittenberg from the field, but couldn’t overcome an overwhelming difference at the free throw line. The Tigers connected on 19-of-40 shots for the game from the charity stripe while Wabash hit 5-of-12 attempts from the line. The Little Giants were held to 17-of-54 from the field by the Wittenberg defense. The Tigers would score only one more field goal than Wabash on 18-of-45 shooting. Wabash connected on seven three point attempts, compared to only three for the Tigers.
Wittenberg scored the first basket of the game, but Wabash took a 6-2 lead after holding the Tigers scoreless for the next four minutes. The Little Giants held a slim 15-13 advantage with 5:04 left in the opening half, but wouldn’t score again in the period. The Tigers hit one of their three treys and picked up two layups to move ahead by five points. Four free throws in the final minute by Wittenberg gave the Tigers a 24-15 halftime edge.
The Tigers increased their lead to 17 point in the first five minutes of the second period. The Little Giants began to battle back, cutting the score to 42-32 in favor of Wittenberg after two free throws by senior Zeljko Gavranovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina/St. Mary’s, AZ). The Tigers responded with a 5-0 run, only to see Wabash trim the lead to nine after consecutive three-pointers by Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) and Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis). The Tigers hit two more free throws before George Colakovic (Munster, IN/Munster) answered with a three to make it a 49-41 contest with 6:09 left in the game.
Wabash would cut it to seven with 4:05, but would get no closer. The Tigers held the Little Giants scoreless again for all but the last 16 seconds of the game to earn their fifth win in NCAC play.
Gavranovic led the Little Giants in scoring with 10 points. Wittenberg’s Andy Bucheit had 13 to lead the Tigers. Daniel Russ scored seven of his 11 points from the free throw stripe as the only other double-figure scorer for the Tigers.
Wabash (6-8, 4-1 NCAC) will travel to Denison University on Saturday for a 3 p.m. NCAC game.