The last time Wabash and Denison met on the basketball court, the Big Red hit 75-percent of their three-point shots to defeat Wabash. This time the Little Giant’s defense held Denison to 38-percent shooting from the field and 26.7-percent from behind the three-point arc to earn a 65-54 victory over the Big Red in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday.
Caleb Lyttle (SO/F/Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) scored a career-best 14 points and led the Little Giants with seven rebounds and five steals to keep Wabash in the hunt for the final home conference tournament berth with two league games remaining on the schedule.
Wabash opened up a five-point lead in the first six minutes of the game, only to see Denison battle back and tie the game at 15-15 on a three-pointer by Chris Hull. Lyttle answered with a layup to put the Little Giants in front by two. It would be the lead that Wabash would never relinquish. A three-pointer by Adonis Joseph (SO/G/Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) made it a five-point contest on the way to an eight-point halftime lead for the Little Giants.
Wabash came out of the locker room and went on a 9-3 run over the first two minutes of the contest to boost its lead to 13. The Little Giants’ advantage would never dip below double figures for the rest of the afternoon, leading by as many as 18 points in the final seven minutes of the game before settling for the 11-point victory.
Lyttle was joined by Joseph and David Wagner (JR/G/Belleville, IL/Belleville) in double figures. Both Joseph and Wagner scored 11 points for the Little Giants, a season-best effort for Wagner coming off the bench for Wabash. He finished a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, including a three-pointer in the first half, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The victory moves the Wabash record to 9-14 and an even 7-7 in NCAC play, good for no worse than a tie for fourth after the dust settles on the weekend’s action among the other conference schools. The Little Giants will honor senior players Matt Storm (Anderson, IN/Lapel) and Zeljko Gavranovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina/St. Mary’s, AZ) on Wednesday night when they play Earlham College at 7:30 p.m.