Friday night Wabash followed a first half the basketball team would like to forget with a second half they'll always remember.
The Little Giants outscored Lakeland College 59-33 in the second half of the 31st Annual Goaltenders-Bankers Classic at Franklin College to defeat the Muskies 89-71.Wabash scored the victory behind a career-best 31 points from junior forward Andrew Zimmer.
Wabash trailed 13-0 in the first four minutes of the game. The Little Giants wouldn't put their first points on the scoreboard until just over four minutes into the contest when Aaron Brock hit a three-pointer to trim the Muskies' lead to ten points. Wabash would draw to within two points when Zimmer connected on back-to-back layups for a 17-15 score. But Lakeland would respond with a 21-15 run over the remainder of the period to take an eight-point lead into the break.
While Wabash managed to fire 30 shots, 11 three-pointers, and make 17 trips to the free throw line in the opening half, the Little Giants appeared a bit sluggish from the holiday break by shooting only 33 percent from the field, 18 percent from the three-point arc, and a mere 47 percent from the free throw line.
The second half was a different story.
Wabash kept pounding the basketball inside to Zimmer. The junior forward responded with 25 second-half points, erasing the eight-point deficit by drawing the Little Giants to within two points with 12 minutes left in the game. Andy Root added to free throws after Lakeland's Tyrone Coleman gave the Muskies a 50-47 lead. It was then freshman Chase Haltom's turn to add to the comeback effort, draining a three-pointer to put Wabash in front for the first time in the game at 51-50.
The two teams traded baskets over the next minute of play before Zimmer hit one free throw, but missed the second. Sophomore Brian Maloney grabbed the rebound, hitting Zimmer under the basket for quick score and a 58-56 lead. Freshman Rich Kavalauskas added two of his four points to put the Little Giants up by four points, starting a 15-4 run by Wabash that would begin to put the game out of reach.
Zimmer scored seven of the 15 points in that stretch on the way to his best effort ever in a Wabash uniform. He finished the night hitting 12 of 17 shots, including his only three-point attempt, while going 6-of-10 from the free throw line. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added a blocked shot before fouling out of the contest in the final minutes.
While the Little Giants were lighting up the scoreboard in the second half, hitting 21-of-33 shots from the field for 63 percent, the defense was handling the Muskies' leading scorer, Mark Rogers. The sophomore entered the game with a 21.8 points-per-game scoring average, but would be held to just two points in the second half while leading Lakeland in scoring with 15 points. The Muskies were held to 33 second half points, connecting on only 12 of 34 shots from the field and only four three-pointers and only five of 11 free throws.
In additional to Zimmer's 31 points, Wabash got 16 points from Root off the bench and 11 from Haltom in his return to the starting lineup.
The Little Giants (4-6) will play Franklin College in the championship game of the tournament Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Grizzlies stung Wabash with an 82-58 defeat back on December 18 as part of a regular season matchup between the two schools.