A three-pointer by Earlham's Jermaine Crumby with 1:43 left in the game gave the Quakers a lead they would never relinquish in a 59-54 victory over Wabash at Chadwick Court Wednesday evening.
The game featured 10 ties and six lead changes, the Quakers would take advantage of Wabash's 16 turnovers. Earlham scored 14 points off of Little Giants miscues. Wabash would also give up 20 offensive rebounds to Earlham, but the Quakers did not take advantage of the opportunties, finishing with 13 second chance points compared to 11 off of 11 offensive boards for the Little Giants.
Earlham raced out to an early 13-7 lead before the Little Giants roared back on a tipin by Ryan Stephens (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville), free throws by Gary Simkus (Highland, IN/Highland), and three-pointer by Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka). Another lead by Earlham, this time a four-point advantage, was once again erased before Wabash took its first lead at 19-18 on a layup by Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove). A back-and-forth battle ensued until a driving layup by Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) with 58 seconds left in the first half appeared to send Wabash to the locker room with a lead. After trading missed shots, Earlham's Brandon Miller fired a jumper with three seconds left in the half that missed and was rebounded by Wabash. But the outlet pass was intercepted by Miller, who answered with a leaning jumper off the glass just ahead of the buzzer to tie the game at 30-30 at the break.
The Quakers would take a lead at the start of the second period and would move in front by as many as eight points before the Little Giants would mount a rally.
Back-to-back jumpers from Joseph and Medeiros cut the lead to four points. Stephens and freshman Andrew Zimmer (Hobart, IN/Hobart) then recorded back-to-back blocks on the defensive end. Then it was Zimmer’s turn to shine at the other end of the floor. He spotted up in the left corner and drained a three to make it a 42-41 contest. Zimmer added a free throw on the next trip down the court to tie the game at 42-42 when he was hammered from behind while going up for a dunk.
Wabash took a two-point lead on free throws by Joseph with 9:09 left in the game, but Tyler Stewart knotted the game at 44 with a jumper just 20 seconds later. The Quakers scored three straight points on the next possession when Miller was fouled from behind and an intentional foul was called against Wabash. Miller hit one of the two free throws, then the Quakers got a basket off the possession to move in front by three.
Zimmer answered with a leaner from the left side, then tied the game for the ninth time with a three-pointer to answer an Evan Ogburn jump shot for Earlham. The Quakers took a 51-49 lead with 6:59 remaining before Wabash would tie the game at with 5:14 remaining.
Both teams battled for the next three minutes but did not come up with any points. Wabash failed to convert on four consecutive trips, despite shutting out the Quakers over the same span.
It was Crumby’s three at the 1:43 mark that put the Quakers in front for good. A baseline jumper by Zimmer would cut it to one, but it would be the last basket scored by the Little Giants. Crumby hit a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound to give Earlham a 56-53 lead, then free throws led to the final five-point edge in the last 15 seconds.
Joseph and Zimmer each had 11 points to lead the Little Giants in scoring. Miller finished with 17 for Earlham.
Wabash falls to 8-8 with the loss, 5-2 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The Little Giants play host to fourth-ranked Wooster Saturday at 2 p.m. at Chadwick Court.