A near-capacity crowd at ChadwickCourt watched the Wabash basketball team nearly pull the upset on Saturday afternoon. The Little Giants led the number-one ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Titans by one at the half and by as many as five points before losing 79-67.
Wabash rode the hot shooting hand of senior Kyle Medeiros (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) early. Medeiros earned a spot on the All-Tournament team by pouring in 17 first-half points to put the Little Giants in front 35-34 at the break. The Titans led by as many as six points in the opening period, but Wabash trimmed the lead to three before a Medeiros trey tied the ballgame. The Little Giants increased the offensive pressure, moving in front by five when Adonis Joseph (SR/Mishawaka, IN/Mishawaka) drained a three. After IWU tied the game again, Wabash jumped back up by five with a Michael Woods (SR/Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) bomb to move in front 35-30. The Titans scored the final four points of the period, a precursor of things to come.
Woods hit another three to start the second half, putting the Little Giants up by four. Illinois Wesleyan battled back to tie the score at 59-59 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Then the cold snap hit for the Little Giants. The Titans went on a 13-0 scoring run over the next five minutes to take the lead. Wabash would end the streak with a free throw by sophomore Andrew Zimmer (Hobart, IN/Hobart), but the damage was done. IWU would go in front by as many as 18 points before Wabash could cut back into the lead. But time would run out, giving the Titans the Tipoff title.
Medeiros was held scoreless in the second half, but still led Wabash with 17 points. Zimmer joined Medeiros on the All-Tournament team with a 10-point scoring effort. The Little Giants held All-American Keelan Amelianovich scoreless, but could not contain Tournament MVP Adam Dauksas, who finished with 22 points.
While the rest of the Wabash campus enjoys the Thanksgiving break, the Little Giant basketball team gets no break from top-25 action. Wabash travels to Hanover College Monday night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against the number-nine ranked Panthers.