It was Eric Buck (Indianapolis, IN/Cardinal Ritter)(photo) night at the Schuckman Court at Earlham as the sophomore center scored a career-high 16 points coming off the bench for Wabash.
The Little Giants led early before the Quakers took a six point advantage just six minutes into the game. That’s when Buck came off the Wabash bench to score 10 first half points, grab three first-half rebounds along with two steals and one assist.
“This is a great win for us,” Wabash coach Mac Petty said. “I can’t say enough about the job Buck did coming off the bench this evening. He gave us a strong offensive and defensive presence in the lane, particularly after Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) picked up his third foul.”
With Buck’s efforts, the Little Giants went from down six to up five at halftime 36-31. The Little Giant defense started strong in the second half, holding the Quakers scoreless for the first four minutes. Wabash outscored Earlham 5-0, forcing four turnovers and only allowing one shot.
Wabash pushed its lead to 11, only to see the 3-point shooting of Earlham get it back into the game. The Quakers got five 3-pointers from reserve guard Travis Brett and starter Curtis Wright to cut the lead to 61-60. A six-point run by Wabash, led by Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) and Short, put Wabash up by six with two minutes remaining. Free throws by by the pair, along with Pleas Ferguson (Indianapolis, IN/Arsenal Tech) in the final two minutes made the difference for Wabash, giving the Little Giants the six-point win.
“We continue to show improvement in close games,” Petty said. “Early in the season, we were playing to keep from losing. Now we’re playing to win and finding ways to win.”
DesJean led the Little Giants with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Along with DesJean and Buck, Ferguson added 11 and Brady Claxton had 10 points. Short just missed a double-double, scoring eight points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Wabash evens its mark at 9-9 overall and moves past the Quakers into third place in the NCAC standings with a 7-3 conference record. Wabash will return to Chadwick Court on Saturday for an NCAC contest against Denison. Tipoff is scheduled at 4 p.m.