A 21-0 scoring differential at the free throw line proved to be too much for Wabash to overcome after the Little Giants forced the fifth-ranked Wittenberg Tigers into overtime in the first semifinal game of Friday night’s North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. Wabash fell 61-53 to the Tigers to bring the Little Giants’ season to an end.
For the third consecutive year, a major difference at the free throw line sent the Wabash basketball team out of the tournament. Wabash never stepped to the line in 65 minutes of play, while the Tigers were nearly perfect, hitting 21-of-22 attempts. The Little Giants have been outshot by 50 attempts in the last three semifinal contests. Wabash has gone 8-of-14 from the stripe over that three-year period, while their opponents are 53-of-64 on charity tosses.
Wabash outshot Wittenberg from the field. The Little Giants hit 22-of-52 attempts, including 9-of-20 from the three-point arc. Wittenberg, seeded second in the tourney, was 18-of-49, going only 4-of-16 from beyond the arc.
The Little Giants took an early 7-2 lead when Adonis Joseph (Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) (left) drove the lane and hit a layup before Dane Borchers and Daniel Russ tied the contest. Borchers answered Joseph’s drive with one of his own, followed by a Russ trey after a missed three by Joseph at the other end. Two free throws a minute later by Brett Bowen gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 9-7.
Joseph answered with a jumper to tie the game with 13:36 left in the first half. Wabash pushed its lead to five points on a three by Michael Woods (Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) and a hard-driving hoop by senior David Wagner (Belleville, IL/Belleville). That lead would be short-lived as Russ and Borchers scored the next six points over the next minute to put Wittenberg back in front 15-14.
Woods answered with another three, starting the Little Giants on a 13-4 run that helped Wabash take an eight-point lead with 2:41 left. The Tigers trimmed it to six after Andy Bucheit and Joseph traded three-point baskets before Russ scored on a layup just before the end of the first half.
Wittenberg cut the 30-24 halftime lead the Little Giants had established to three points before Wabash went on another scoring run. Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) capped a 7-2 run by the Little Giants with a three from the top of the key to put Wabash up 39-31. Four minutes later Wabash would take a double-digit lead, going in front by ten points when Andrew Zimmer (Hobart, IN/Hobart) drilled a jumper from the baseline for a 43-33 Little Giant lead.
The Little Giants would hold that lead over the next five minutes before the Tigers began to cut into it once again. Coffey gave Wabash a 47-39 lead with six minutes left in regulation when Wittenberg went on a 9-3 run over the next four minutes to make it a 50-48 contest in favor of the Little Giants. Wabash would go scoreless over the final two minutes of the second half, watching Borchers hit two free throws with 34 seconds left to tie the game at 50-50. Joseph fired a game-winning attempt with three seconds left that rolled off the iron, but the Tigers grabbed the rebound to send the game to an extra five-minute period.
The only Wabash points of the extra period would come after the Tigers jumped out to a 57-50 lead on free throws by Russ and Bowen and a trey by Becheit. Joseph hit a three with 56 seconds remaining in the extra session. But the Tigers connected on six free throws in the final minute of the game to advance to the championship game Saturday night.
Joseph scored 13 to lead the Little Giants in scoring. Coffey added 12 points to the Wabash effort.
The Little Giants finish the season 14-13.
In photos:
On homepage: File photo of Wabash fresman Gary Simkus.