Wabash survived a four-minute scoring drought to open the second half of the championship game of the 2004 Little Giant Tipoff Classic to defeat Goshen College 54-52.
Wabash trailed by as many as 10 points in the final period before a free throw by David Wagner (Belleville, IL/Belleville) tied the contest at 52-52 with 43 second left. The Little Giants won the game when junior Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) tipped in a missed layup by Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) with six second left in the game to give Wabash its first Classic title since 1999. Wabash has made the championship game the last two years, but fell to Olivet Nazarene in 2003 and Illinois Wesleyan in 2002.
Wagner, who earned tournament MVP honors, scored all six of his points in the final eight minutes of the game to bring the Little Giants back. He combined with Coffey and Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) tallied the final 19 points for Wabash to improve the squad’s record to 2-0. Coffey finished with nine points and eight rebounds, while Medeiros had 10 points, including the first made three-point shot for Wabash with 6:21 left in the game.
The Little Giants struggled from the field in the second half after hitting 44 percent from the field in the opening period. Wabash would connect on only 7-of-25 shots from the field in the second period. The free throw line would prove to be a struggle for Wabash all game long, hitting only 14 out of 27 charity tosses.
Nate Bell (Ft. Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran) earned a spot on the all-tournament team with Wagner, following up his 15-point, 13-rebound effort Friday night against Robert Morris with seven points and five rebounds. Medeiros led the team with 10 points.
The Little Giants return to Chadwick Court Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Hanover College.