Junior center Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) equaled his career high in scoring, tallying 17 points to lead the Wabash basketball team to a 68-56 victory over Oberlin Monday night at Chadwick Court. The Little Giants used three big scoring runs to pick up their second North Coast Athletic Conference victory of the season.
Coffey finished the night 7-of-12 from the field, also tying his career-best effort in total field goals made. He scored 17 points last January at Earlham and hit seven field goals last year against Ohio Wesleyan.
The 6-9, 210-pounder helped the Little Giants’ bench outscore Oberlin 35-18. Wabash kept pounding the basketball inside, finishing with a 42-12 scoring advantage in the paint.
There were five lead changes and two ties early in the contest before the Little Giants went on a 16-2 run midway through the first period to move in front 26-13. But the lead was short-lived. The Yeomen responded with a run of their own, outscoring Wabash 16-4 to make it a one-point contest with 3:15 left in the first half.
One point would be the halftime differential after a Kyle Medeiros (JR/Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) (right) layup put the Little Giants in front by three with 33 seconds remaining in the period. That was before Oberlin’s Matthew Godwin hit a running jumper from just inside the top of key a second before the buzzer sounded, cutting the Wabash lead to 34-33 at the break.
After a Coffey jumper and a three-pointer by Oberlin’s DeWayne Evans tied the game at 36-36 in the opening minute of the second half, Wabash went on another run. This time the Little Giants ran off ten unanswered points over a five minute period to move in front to stay. The Yeomen would trim the lead to four points before a final 13-2 run by Wabash secured the team’s second conference win in three days.
Senior David Wagner (Belleville, IL/Belleville) (left) had 11 points to join Coffey in double figures. The Little Giants shot 47 percent from the field, connecting on 26-of-55 shots in the contest, but only hitting 2-of-10 three-pointers. Wabash controlled the glass, snaring 38 rebounds to only 28 for the Yeomen. The Little Giants grabbed 17 offensive boards leading to 14 second chance points. Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) added a career-best seven assists for the Little Giants.
Wabash (4-3, 2-0 NCAC) will play Wisconsin-Platteville in the second game of the Pete Thorn Invitational Friday night at 8 p.m. Marian College of Indianapolis will play Wheaton College in the first game at 6 p.m.