Turnovers and two late Hanover runs led to a 68-63 win for the Panthers over the Wabash basketball team Monday night at Collier Arena. The victory was the seventh in a row for Hanover against the Little Giants.
Wabash taken a 43-34 lead six minutes into the second half after a 5-0 run by the Panthers to start the second half put Hanover in front 34-30. The 13-0 run was paced by two three-point baskets, one by Chase Haltom and another from Andrew Zimmer.
Collin Smith’s three with 12:37 put Wabash in front 46-39 before two consecutive treys by Hanover cut the lead to one. Baskets by Simkus and Wes Smith put the Little Giants back in front by five with nine minutes left. The Panthers continued to keep Wabash close before an Eric Parker layup with 4:20 left tied the game at 54-54. Simkus answered with a three, but Marc O’Leary tied it once again with a bomb of his own.
Wabash came down on offense, but the Little Giants committed one of their 23 turnovers to give the ball back to Hanover. The Panthers responded with another three by Parker for a 60-57 advantage. The two teams traded free throws before a steal and a layup by Haltom made it a 62-60 contest in favor of Hanover. Wabash quickly fouled Robby Brown to send the center to the free throw line. He responded with two of four from the line over the final 20 seconds to stretch the lead to six. Haltom hit a long three with a few seconds remaining before two final free throws by O’Leary provided the final margin.
Wes Smith gave Wabash a 3-0 lead to start the game. The Little Giants led by as many as six points with four minutes left in the opening period before a 6-0 run tied the game at 27-27. Wabash stretched the lead to five once again, but Hanover scored another four straight at the end of the half to cut the Little Giants’ lead to 30-29 at the break.
Wabash shot well in the contest, hitting 24-of-47 from the field for 51.1 percent. The Little Giants were 9-of-18 from behind the arc, and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. Hanover shot just 36 percent, but hit 20-of-24 free throws and outrebounded the Little Giants 35-29.
Simkus and Andy Root led Wabash in scoring, each finishing with 12 points. Zimmer and Wes Smith each scored 11 points.
The Little Giants (1-2) are off until next Wednesday night with a 7:30 p.m. game at Chadwick Court against Rose-Hulman.