The Little Giants trailed 85-81 with 4.5 seconds remaining when Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) grabbed the basketball 30-feet away from the hoop and hit a three to cut the lead to one with two seconds remaining. A made free throw by Shawn Kindred was followed by a miss. Pleas Ferguson (Indianapolis, IN/Arsenal Tech) grabbed the rebound and fired a three-quarter court shot that hit the back of the iron and dropped off the right side of the basket, sending the Bishops to the semi-final round of the tournament and sending Wabash home for the year.
The Little Giants trailed by 10 points in the first half, only to take a 31-29 lead on a Brady Claxton (Shelbyville, IN/Shebyville) three-pointer with 6:08 left on the clock. Ohio Wesleyan took a one point lead to the locker room with a buzzer-beater by Charlie Smith.
The Bishops opened the second half with a 7-0 run, and took an 11 point lead with 12:09 remaing, forcing Wabash to play catch-up once again. A 10-0 run by Wabash, led by the defensive effort of Reed Hoyer (West Lafayette, IN/West Lafayette) and the offense of Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) (photo). Hoyer came up with three straight defensive stops, while DesJean scored six of his game-high 23 points. But the Little Giants did not have enough steam to get the lead.
“We were able to make some runs, but always to cut into an Ohio Wesleyan lead,” said coach Mac Petty. “We would get close again, then commit a turnover and give them points to take another lead. We just couldn’t cut down on the turnovers when the game was close.”
Wabash committed 17 turnovers, 12 in the first half, that kept the Bishops’ attack alive. Twice in the second half the Little Giants got two defensive stops only to turn it over at the other end of the floor.
Wabash trailed 78-74 before a runner by Jesse Burgess and a layup by Ferguson tied the score with 2:36 left in the contest. A jumper by the Bishops’ Jimmy Francis put Ohio Wesleyan back up by two. Francis hit four free throws in the final minute to setup the final seconds of frenzied action.
Wabash finishes the year with an 11-14 record. DesJean became only the third player in Wabash history to average a double-double for the season. DesJean finished the year with an average of 17.4 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. He led the NCAC in rebounds and blocked shots, and was fifth overall in scoring. His rebounding and 2.5 blocks-per-game average also rank in the top-20 in the nation.