A solid defensive effort in the second half led Wabash to an 85-73 win over Denison Saturday and a perfect 2-0 record in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Wabash improved to 12-1 against the Big Red since joining the NCAC after holding Denison to 37 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes of the game. The Little Giants are now 6-3 on the season after winning their fifth consecutive victory.
Wabash saw a nine-point lead evaporate in the first half, trailing 44-41 at halftime. Denison held the Little Giants to no baskets and only 1 point in the final 3:27 of the period, outscoring Wabash 7-1 in that final first half stretch.
The Big Red’s Robb Hern did a lot of the damage in the first half, scoring 12 points in the opening period. He wasn’t the only Denison player putting up numbers before halftime. Dan Izzo tallied nine points, while Dan Hodgkinson and Chris Eberst each picked up eight. Kyle Medeiros answered with 11 points in the first period.
Wabash built its early nine-point lead with 10 second-chance points, converting on 11 offensive rebounds.
The Little Giants came out in the second half and scored the first six points to take a three-point lead they would never relinquish. Two baskets by Adonis Joseph and a reverse layup by Michael Woods put Wabash in front 47-44.
Leading by four with eight minutes left in the contest, Wabash stretched its lead to as many as ten points after Caleb Lyttle (photo top left) answered two missed Hodgkinson free throws with two made charity tosses to put Wabash up 77-67 with just over four minutes left in the game before eventually pulling away for the 12-point victory.
Andrew Zimmer led the Little Giants with a season-high 18 points. Joseph added 16 points, 13 of those coming in the second half. Medeiros finished with 13 points, while Lyttle had 12.
Wabash returns to Chadwick Court Friday, December 30 for a 7:30 p.m. contest against in-state rival Franklin College.