Wabash shot 65-percent from the free throw line, costing the Little Giants 12 points in a 73-65 loss to the fourth-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots Saturday afternoon at Chadwick Court.
The Little Giants had no problem getting to the free throw line. Hitting the shots was a different story. Wabash was 23-of-35 from the stripe outscoring the Scots by only a point from the free throw line despite taking nine more attempts.
It was anyone's basketball game in the North Coast Athletic Conference tilt that featured 12 lead changes and nine ties over 40 minutes. Wooster held an early two-point lead until a layup by Gary Simkus (Highland, IN/Highland) and three-pointer by Michael Woods (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) put Wabash up 9-6 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first period. But the Scots answered with a three from Blake Mealer to knot the game for the fourth time.
Wooster led by as many aas five points before the Little Giants trim the lead to three points with 1:30 left in the first half. A layup and basket by Andrew Zimmer (Hobart, IN/Hobart) tied the game at 27-27. It looked like Wooster would take a lead to the locker room at the break when Mealer pounded home a layup inside with 45 seconds left. But after missed Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) was rebounded by Zimmer, Medeiros was true on the second attempt, canning a trey with just six seconds remaining to give Wabash a 30-29 halftime lead.
The Little Giants would get off to a fast start in the second half. Caleb Lyttle (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) scored the first four points of the period to put Wabash in front by five, its biggest lead of the game. The Scots battled back behind top-scorer Tom Port. Held scoreless by the Little Giant defense in the first half, Port drained back-to-back three's to give Wooster a 35-34 advantage.
With the score tied at 40-40 with 14:14 left on the game clock, the Scots began to pull away. Seven straight points by Wooster proved too much for the Little Giants to overcome. Wabash had opportunties down the stretch, particularly with the clock stopped. But the Little Giants shot 3-for-10 from the free throw line over the next eight minutes while the Scots held on to a six-point lead.
Wooster pushed its lead to ten points with 33 seconds left in the contest before back-to-back three's by Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) made it a five-point game. Joseph scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the final minute of the contest in an effort to draw Wabash closer. The Scots answered by hitting three of their final six free throws down the stretch to earn their 16th win of the season against only one loss.
Simkus finished with 12 points and Zimmer had 10 points for the Little Giants. Wabash falls to 8-9 with the loss, 5-3 in NCAC play. The Little Giants travel to Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday evening.