A late run by the Wabash basketball gave a loud and raucous Chadwick Court crowd plenty to cheer about Saturday afternoon. The Little Giants overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Oberlin College 66-61. The game was part of the Inauguration Weekend of Patrick White, 15th president of Wabash College.
The Little Giants took a 2-0 lead on a Brian Maloney layup to start the game, but went scoreless over the next seven minutes while Oberlin took a 7-2 lead. Rich Kavalauskas ended the Yeomen's run with a layup off a pass from junior guard Earl Rooks. Wabash trimmed the lead to one point before Oberlin raced out to a seven-point edge before settling for a 30-24 advantage at halftime.
Andrew Zimmer drew double-team coverage throughout the first half and was held to eight points in 17 minutes on the floor. The junior forward and leading scorer for the Little Giants coming into the game exploded in the second half, scoring 21 points on a 7-of-8 shooting effort from the floor while playing the entire period. He answered a three-point basket by Jordan Beard with 8:12 left in the contest with a layup and free throw to give Wabash a 48-45 lead. After Andy Root connected on one of two free throws to put the Little Giants in front by four points, Zimmer proved to be the go-to player once again. He hit a jumper with 6:43 on the game clock, then took a near-perfect pass from Kyle Schroering under the basket and slammed the ball through the hoop.
Oberlin refused to go away. A late foul after Mike Loll cut the lead to four points sent Quinton Spencer to the free thow line for three attempts. The senior foward hit all three to make it a 60-59 contest with 43 second left. A quick foul by Matt Godwin sent Rooks to the free throw line. He made one of the two tosses to give the Little Giants a two-point lead.
That lead lasted exactly 10 seconds when Spencer drove the lane and put home a layup to tie the game at 61-61. With time running down on the Little Giants next offensive possession, Rooks drove the lane and appeared to throw up an airball. But the 5-7 guard had actually found Zimmer cutting along the baseline and hit him in stride with a pass for an easy layup and foul. Zimmer connected on the extra shot to put Wabash in front by three.
Jordan Beard put up a driving layup at the other end of the floor with just seven seconds left, but the ball rolled off the side of the rim. Ryan Stephens grabbed the rebound away from Spencer and was fouled by Oberlin's senior captain. Out of frustration, Spencer tossed the basketball toward the stands, drawing a technical foul that send Stephens to the stripe for four attempts. The Little Giants' lone senior player missed the two technical free throws but hit on his final two attempts to five Wabash the win. The victory avenged a 52-50 loss earlier in the season at the hands of the Yeomen.
Zimmer finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Nine of his rebounds came on the offensive end of the court helping Wabash score 16 second-chance baskets. Root added 11 points in the victory for the Little Giants. Loll had 20 points to lead Oberlin in scoring.
Wabash (7-12, 4-6 NCAC) travels to Delaware, Ohio Wednesday evening for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Ohio Wesleyan University.