A 9-2 scoring run over the final two minutes of the basketball game sent Wabash College to the consolation game of the Papa John’s/Country Hearth Inn Tournament. The Little Giants lost 81-74 to Heidelberg College in Wednesday’s first game at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.
Senior David Wagner (Belleville, IL/Belleville) tallied a career-best 18 points in the loss, bringing the Little Giants back from a four-point deficit in the opening minutes of the second period. Wagner ran down a length-of-the-floor pass from junior Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) and hit a driving layup to cut the Student Princes’ lead to two. Wagner then stole the inbound pass and connected on his second straight layup to make it a 45-45 contest.
Wabash led by as many as five points near the midway point of the contest, only to watch Heidelberg drain one of its nine three-pointers, followed by a layup of its own to knot the contest at 55-55.
Wagner gave the Little Giants a three-point lead with a jumper off of a steal at the 4:29 mark of the game before a trey by Andrew Lemmon evened the score for the seventh time. But Wabash’s Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) answered with his only three-pointer of the game, putting the Little Giants back in front by three with four minutes showing on the game clock.
It would be the final outside shot for Wabash in the contest. Medeiros added the final basket of the game for the Little Giants at the 2:34 mark, giving Wabash a 72-71 lead. The Student Princes took the lead back with two free throws of their own. Medeiros hit two free throws with 1:29 left in the contest, but they would be the final points of the game for the Little Giants. Heidelberg scored the last eight points of the game, including five points off offensive rebounds to earn a spot in Thursday night’s championship game.
Wagner’s 18 points led the Wabash offensive effort. The senior guard was nearly perfect from the field, connecting on 7-of-8 shots, missing only a three-point attempt. Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) added 11 points. Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing ten rebounds.
Wabash was 30-of-65 from the field for 46 percent and 11-of-16 free throw attempts. The Little Giants held Heidelberg to 25-of-61 from the field, including 9-of-22 from behind the arc. But the Student Princes hit 22-of-33 free throws, despite playing behind the arc for most of the game.
Wabash falls to 4-6 for the season. The Little Giants play the loser of the Centre College and LaGrange College game in the consolation game at 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon.