Chase Haltom's runner with three seconds left bounced harmlessly off the back of the rim and into the hands of Wittenberg's Sam Gregory to give the Tigers a 54-52 win over Wabash in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Chadwick Court Wednesday night.
Haltom's attempt to tie the game came in a shootout that saw the Little Giants erase a 15-point deficit and overcome a nine-minute scoring drought and a Wittenberg team that shot 50 percent from the field and 65 percent from the three-point arc. (View the photo album from the game.)
The Little Giants had taken a six-point lead on a layup by Aaron Brock with 7:46 left in the first half despite the red-hot shooting by Wittenberg. Tiger turnovers allowed Wabash to take the lead, but Brock's hoop would prove to be the last basket of the half. Kyle Bigler and Kevin Murray trimmed the advantage to one poit before a trey from Brandon White put Wittenberg up 22-20. The Tigers completed the 15-1 run to end the half with a 29-21 edge on the scoreboard.
Wittenberg shot an amazing 11-of-20 from the field in the first period, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. Gregg Hill continued the blistering offensive effort in the opening minute of the second half with one of his four three-point baskets to push the lead to 11. Andrew Zimmer, scoreless in the first half for the second consecutive game, finally ended both his and the Little Giants' shooting funk with a jumper at 18:26. Hill and Zimmer traded baskets again before a 10-4 run by the Tigers put Wittenberg up 15 with five minutes gone in the final half.
Wabash began to recover. Gary Simkus and Wes Smith scored back-to-back baskets, followed by a Haltom three to make it a 10-point game. Smith stole the ball from Bigler and found Halftom for a layup to make it a 42-36 game. Two more baskets --- one by Simkus and one from Brian Maloney --- finished cut the advantage to two points before Hill silenced the 13-0 run with a three at 7:52.
The Tigers would eventually push their lead to five points with 3:10 remaining in the game when Smith forced another Wittenberg turnover and got a finger-roll to fall while being fouled on the shot. He added the free throw to make the score 52-50 in favor of the Tigers with 1:40 showing on the game clock.
Brandon Barabino put up one of the few Tiger misses at the the offensive end for Wittenberg. Haltom snared the rebound, finding Simkus under the basket under the Wabash basket. A foul by Gregory put Simkus on the line, where he converted both free throw attempts to tie the score at 52-52 with 49 second left. Gregory redeemed himself 21 second later when he connected on two free throws for the two-point lead.
Wabash appeared to squander its final attempt when Simkus lost the basketball and was forced to foul quickly. With Wittenberg not yet in the bonus, the Tigers triggered an inbound pass that went off the hands of Hill out of bounds and back to the Little Giants with 13 second remaining.
After several early looks inside to Zimmer that were well defended by Wittenberg, Haltom drove toward the middle of the lane and lifted the 10-foot running jumper. The ball hit the back of the iron and glanced off to the right, where Gregory grabbed the rebound. He was fouled immediately, but missed the first free throw attempt. Brock snared the rebound, and Haltom called timeout the instant the ball was in the hands of the Wabash sophomore. After a conference the officials put .6 seconds on the clock, but the decision didn't matter. A length-of-the-floor pass was intercepted by White to end any last-second heroics and send Wabash to its first loss in five games.
Simkus led the Little Giants with 15 points. Brock, Zimmer, and Haltom each added eight. Wabash outrebounded the Tigers 31-to-26, including 13 offensive boards by the Little Giants. Simkus and Zimmer each grabbed seven boards.
Hill paced the Tigers with 16 points, while Murray added 13 and Barabino scored 11. Wittenberg (12-6, 8-1 NCAC) finished the game 20-of-40 from the field and 11-of-17 from three-point range.
Wabash (12-6, 6-3 NCAC) falls into a tie for fourth with Kenyon --- the Little Giants' next opponenet ---in the NCAC standings with the loss combined with wins by Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, and the Lords. Kenyon and Wabash play at 3 p.m. Saturday at Chadwick Court.
Photos - Chase Haltom hit this layup from the left side in the second half. His final jumper would have tied the game with three seconds left if it had fallen.
Gary Simkus scores two of his team-high 15 points.