The charity stripe was anything but charitable for the Wabash basketball team Wednesday night. The Little Giants were 1-of-7 in the second half and 6-of-15 for the game to fall 71-68 to the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops Wednesday night at Chadwick Court.
A win over the Bishops would have put Wabash in a tie with OWU for third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings. Instead the Little Giants find themselves tied with Earlham for fourth place, two games back from the Bishops.
A three-pointer by senior Kyle Medeiros just before the half erased a four-point Wesleyan lead, sending the Little Giants to the locker room trailing 39-38. After trailing 6-0 at the start of the game, Wabash rallied to take a five-point lead with 5:58 remaining in the opening period. A layup and free throw by reserve center Jesse Jean brought the Bishops to within two points before Andy Warnock answered a Caleb Lyttle layup with one of OWU's eight first-half three-pointers. Another three to answer a Ryan Stephens layup and thre free throws put the Bishops up 39-34 before Medeiros drilled the period-ending trey just ahead of the buzzer.
Wabash hit three more baskets than the Bishops in the first half, going 15-of-27 compared to OWU's 12-of-24. The Bishops had five more three-pointers and were 7-of-10 from the stripe, compared to 5-of-8 in the half from the free throw line for Wabash.
Ohio Wesleyan jumped back out to a five-point lead in the final period before a three by Adonis Joseph triggered a 11-2 run that put the Little Giants up five. Back-to-back layups by Jean cut it one midway through the second half.
The Little Giants jumped the lead back up to four points when Michael Woods drove the left side and scored to make it a 62-58 contest. But a 4-0 run by the Bishops tied the score at 64-64 with 4:22 left.
Medeiros drilled a jumper with 3:50 remaining to put Wabash up 66-64. A missed layup by Ohio Wesleyan led to a defensive rebound by the Little Giants and a quick foul by OWU. But Wabash missed both free throws and fouled going for the rebound, sending Dustin Rudegeair to the free throw line at the other end of the floor. The sophomore calmly hit both tosses to tie the game for the fifth time. Wabash answered when Joseph connected on a jumper, but the Bishops answered with a layup to knot the game at 68-68 with 1:05 remaining.
Wabash turned the basketball over on the very next trip down the floor, but had a chance to take another lead with Andy Warnock's driving shot rolled off the iron. The loose ball was gathered by OWU's Ben Chojnacki, who hit the put-back basket to give the Bishops a 70-68 lead.
The Little Giants got the ball inside on the next possession and it appeared they would tie the game. But a Wabash layup came off the front of the rim. Wabash fouled again, putting Rudegeair on the line. He missed the first attempt, but was perfect on the second with six seconds remaining in the game, giving Wabash one last chance.
Medeiros found the basketball in his hands one more time with the clock winding down, but this time there would be no buzzer-beating three-pointer. He fired a shot with two defenders in his face, the ball falling just on the front of the basket to give the Bishops the victory.
Wabash was 29-of-56 from the field and 4-of-9 from the three-point arc. The Bishops cooled down from outside in the second half, finishing the game 24-of-52 overall and 10-of-23 from behind the arc. OWU took advantage of its free throw opportunities, connecting on 13-of-17 shots from the line compared to the 40-percent effort by the Little Giants.
Mederios led Wabash with 14 points. Joseph and Gary Simkus each added 12. Andrew Zimmer scored 11 before fouling out of the contest. Warnock led OWU with 15 points while Redegeair tossed in 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Little Giants fall to 12-8 with the loss and 6-5 in NCAC play. Wabash will try and regroup Saturday afternoon with a 3 p.m. contest at Chadwick Court against Denison University.
Photos - (top left) Gary Simkus battles for a loose ball.
(middle right) Andrew Zimmer scored 11 points and had five rebounds before fouling out of the game.
(left) Ryan Stephens goes in for a layup.