Senior Earl Rooks had three big baskets, including the go-ahead hoop with 5:12 left in the contest to lead Wabash to a 69-64 victory over Southwestern University in the first game of Sunday's Trinity/Southwestern Holiday Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
The senior guard, playing in front of family members making the trip from nearby Dallas and earning a spot on the all-tournament team, scored eight points in the contest. His biggest basket came moments after the Pirates had erased a four-point Wabash lead to move in front 61-60. The Little Giants tried to dump a pass inside, but Goran Stojcic intercepted and knocked the ball toward the endline. He tried to tip it back into play before falling out of bounds, but instead sent the ball right back to Rooks under the basket for an easy layup.
Four minutes later with Wabash clinging to a one-point lead Rooks answered the call once again. He drove the ball to the right side of the lane, pulled up and drained a 12-foot jumper for a 66-63 lead for the Little Giants. Three free throws in the final minute by Andrew Zimmer gave Wabash the win.
Aaron Brock and Wes Smith were the early stars for the Little Giants. Brock dominated the early scoring. The sophomore forward hit a three-point to erase a 5-0 start by Southwestern. Brock tallied all 15 of his points in the first half, connecting on 5-of-9 attempts.
Smith helped Wabash to +11 advantage in rebounding by recording his second double-double of the year. The freshman guard grabbed 16 total boards, including eight offense carroms. He had 11 in the first half to match his 11 points in the opening period. Smith finished with 16 points.
The Little Giants opened up a six-point lead midway through the first half, but could not put the hot-shooting Pirates away. Coach Bill Raleigh changed his starting lineup after Saturday's loss by Southwestern. The move led to 45 points off the bench for the Pirates and a 22-of-50 shooting performance for the game. The Pirates (5-5), connecting on only three three-pointers Saturday, hit 10 in the loss to Wabash. Southwestern hit two key bombs to cut into five-point second half leads by the Little Giants.
Zimmer rallied for 16 second half points. One day after becoming the third player in Wabash history to block 100 shots and score 1,000 points in a career, he added 19 points and two blocks to his totals to pace the Wabash effort.
Wabash (6-4, 0-1) returns to Crawfordsville to face the remainder of its North Coast Athletic Conference schedule. The Little Giants open the 2008 portion of their schedule against Allegheny College Friday, January 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Chadwick Court. Hiram College head to Chadwick Saturday, January 5 for a 3 p.m. tip.
Photos - (top left) Earl Rooks with Wabash head coach Mac Petty after Rooks was named to the 2007 Trinty/Southwestern Holiday All-Classic team.
(Bottom right) Wes Smith scores two of his 16 points on this jump shot in the second half.