For the third straight game the Wabash basketball team would come close, but could not come out on top. The Little Giants dropped a 63-60 contest at DePauw University, the third consecutive loss by fewer than five points.
The difference maker came with three seconds left in the game. Junior Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka), red-hot in the second half for the Little Giants, drove the lane for a layup with 10 seconds remaining to draw Wabash even. But the Tigers’ Brian Oilar drained a trey from the left corner with three ticks remaining to end any hope for the Little Giants. Wabash was fouled twice by DePauw on the ensuing inbound plays, but the Tigers had plenty of fouls to give after being whistled for only four personals to that point throughout the entire second half. DePauw came up with the final steal on the last inbound attempt by Wabash with one second remaining, handing the Little Giants their third straight loss.
Wabash battled back from a five-point deficit early in the contest to take its first lead at 19-18 on a jumper by Joseph. The junior guard made it an old-fashioned three-point play after hitting a free throw to put the Little Giants in front by two. Wabash took their largest lead of the half on a three-pointer by Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) with 1:17 left, but an Oilar trey and a layup by Todd Capes gave the Tigers a one-point advantage with 30 seconds left in the period.
It was Wabash that came up with the big basket at the end of the first half. Junior forward Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) drove the lane with three ticks left on the clock, hitting the finger-roll layup just ahead of the halftime horn to put the Little Giants up 32-31.
Joseph drilled four straight three-pointers at the start of the second period to send the Little Giants to a 46-39 edge. But a 10-2 run by the Tigers over the next five minutes put DePauw up one. The Little Giants would trail until the 1:08 mark when freshman Gary Simkus (Highland, IN/Highland) nailed his only basket of the game to move in front 58-56.
Oilar would do the damage again, scoring two of his game-high 17 on a layup with 54 seconds showing on the clock, ending a 8-0 Wabash scoring run. The Tigers took a two-point lead on free throws by Alex Stewart to go up 60-58, setting up the final two plays of the game.
Joseph led the Little Giants with a season-best 20 points, tying his career-topping mark of 20 against Marian College last year. Medeiros was the only other player in double figures for the Little Giants,scoring 13 points.
Wabash (2-3) begins the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of its season Saturday afternoon with a 3 p.m. game at Kenyon College. The Little Giants return to Chadwick Court for a 7 p.m. contest Monday night against Oberlin, a game that was originally scheduled for December 19 before being moved to accommodate Oberlin’s final examination schedule.