A great defensive effort led the Wabash basketball team to a 72-46 victory over the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops Wednesday night in Delaware, Ohio.
The Little Giants held the Bishops to 28.1 percent from the field, forced 16 OWU turnovers and scored 19 points off of those miscues to cruise to the North Coast Athletic Conference road win. Wabash is now 9-9 overall, 6-3 in NCAC action. The 72 points are the most by the Little Giants in an NCAC game this year, while the Bishops’ 46 points are the fewest allowed by Wabash in league action.
While the defense did its job, freshman Andrew Zimmer (Hobart, IN/Hobart) and Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) were making the Bishops pay at the offensive end. Zimmer scored a career-best 20 points while Medeiros tossed in 14 in the Wabash victory. Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) added 11 points.
The Wabash defense held OWU to four points over the first six minutes of the game, but could only take a six-point advantage. The Bishops came back to tie the game at 10-10 before the Little Giants went on another scoring run, eventually taking a 21-13 advantage a 27-21 lead at the break. The Little Giants built the lead thanks to nine Ohio Wesleyan turnovers and an 8-for-26 shooting performance by the Bishops, including 0-for-3 from behind the arc.
Leading by six at the break, Wabash exploded offensively in the first six minutes of the second period. Back-to-back three’s by Medeiros and another trey by Michael Woods (Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) pushed the Little Giants’ lead to 15.
A basket by Zimmer added to the Wabash lead. Three straight stops by the Little Giants at the defensive end of the floor, another layup by Zimmer, and a dish from Gary Simkus (Highland, IN/Highland) to Nate Bell (Ft. Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran) for an easy layup kept Wabash up by 17 midway through the period.
Wabash jumped in front 55-35 when Coffey drove for a basket and hit a free throw for a three-point play. Ohio Wesleyan would get no closer than 18 in the final nine minutes. Wabash outscored the Bishops 45-25 in the final period.
The Little Giants travel to Oberlin, Ohio Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff against the Yeomen.