Wabash kept Earlham close in the first half before the Quakers opened a 13-point lead midway through the second period on the way to a 71-59 win over the Little Giants Wednesday night in Richmond, Indiana. Wabash lost its third straight North Coast Athletic Conference game and its third consecutive game against the Quakers.
Wabash took a 10-4 lead early in the contest when Michael Woods drove the lane with 14:44 showing on the first period clock, scoring two of his career-high 15 points. The Little Giants held the six-point edge over the next five minutes before a three-point basket by Tristian Gregory trimmed it to three. After a basket by Markous Jewett cut the Wabash advantage to one point, Woods and Adonis Joseph responded with back-to-back three pointers to give the Little Giants their biggest lead at 29-22. But the Quakers responded with three straight long range bombs and a layup over the final 3:36 of the first half, erasing the Wabash advantage to take a two-point lead at the half.
The Quakers would stretch their lead to six points in the opening minutes of the second period before a three-pointer by Kyle Medeiros and a steal and layup by the senior guard for a five-point swing made it a 39-38 contest. An Andrew Zimmer free throw on the next possession after a missed shot by Earlham tied the game at 39-39 with 14:48 left in the contest.
Earlham answered with an 13-2 run over the next three minutes to jump in front 52-41. Wabash would get no closer than nine points over the next nine minutes, eventually losing by 12.
Wabash shot 50 percent on 13-of-26 from the field in the first half, but it was nothing compared to the second half shooting of the Quakers. Earlham connected on 16-of-26 in the final 20 minutes of action for 61.5 percent, including 3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc. Earlham was 30-of-55 (54.5 percent) from the field for the game, and 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) on three-point attempts. The Little Giants finished 22-of-52 for 42.3 percent, but hit only 5 out of 18 three-pointers (27.8 percent).
Woods and Zimmer each had 15 points to lead the Little Giants in scoring. Medeiros added 11. Brandon Miller led Earlham with a game-high 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Gregory had 13 off the bench for the Quakers.
Wabash (10-6, 4-3 NCAC) returns to Chadwick Court Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. tipoff against Kenyon College. Action begins at 1 p.m. with the annual Alumni game prior to the Kenyon contest.