Wabash raced out to a 24-7 lead over Earlham Wednesday night and never looked back, handing the Quakers an 83-61 defeat at Chadwick Court. The Little Giants held Earlham to 39 percent shooting from the field and 8-of-22 from the three-point arc.
Little Giant freshman Wes Smith drew the toughest defensive assignment of the night --- guarding the North Coast Athletic Conference's leading scorer, Tristian Gregory. Gregory came into the game averaging 19.3 points a game and eventually reached that mark with 19 points to lead the Quakers, but it came on just 5-of-19 shooting. Smith forced Gregory to take off-balanced jumpers and kept the Earlham junior from getting many good looks at the basket. Only two of Gregory's baskets came from inside the three-point arc and six of his 19 points came from the free throw line. Wabash freshman Dominique Thomas took over for Smith late in the game, continuing to keep a lid on Gregory's scoring effort while adding four points, two assists, and two steals. (View photos from the Little Giants' victory.)
Smith and his teammates had no problem finding the basket. The freshman missed the opening jumper of the game, but the Little Giants grabed two offensive rebounds before Gary Simkus finally put home the first basket of the game. Gregory missed his first jumper of the game and Wabash converted on its second trip down the floor when Earl Rooks missed a three, but Simkus grabbed another offensive board and got the ball to Andrew Zimmer for a layup and a 4-0 lead.
The Quakers missed their first six shots before Gregory managed a basket to end a Wabash 11-0 scoring run that was capped by a Simkus jumper not quite five minutes into the opening period. Gregory's basket and subsequent free throw cut the lead to eight points before an Aaron Brock layup boosted the advantage back to double figures for the final time.
The Little Giants led by as many as 18 points in the first period before taking a 40-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
The team traded baskets in the early minutes of the second half before Wabash scored on back-to-back three-point baskets by Brock and Zimmer --- both on inbound plays on the Little Giants' offensive end of the floor --- for a 21-point lead. Wabash would go up by as many as 25 points on baskets by Evan Arnold and a three-point play by Rich Kavalauskas before settling for the 22-point victory.
Simkus recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Zimmer hit 9-of-14 shots for a game-high 24 points. Smith added eight points and eight boards, one of 11 Wabash players to score in the game.
The Little Giants were 33-of-65 from the field, including 8-of-20 from beyond the arc and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. Wabash outrebounded Earlham (3-19, 1-12 NCAC) 37-32. The Little Giants won the turnover battle, committing only 11 miscues compared to 18 for the Quakers.
Wabash (14-8, 8-5 NCAC) remains tied with Kenyon College for fourth place in the NCAC standings. The Little Giants will celebrate Senior Day Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. tipoff against Oberlin College.
Photos - (top right) Wes Smith scored eight points and held Earlham's top scorer in check for most of the game in the Little Giants' win Wednesday night.
(Middle left) Rich Kavalauskas scored on a drive to the basket, adding a free throw on the foul to put Wabash up 25.
(Bottom right) Freshman Andrew Gilman followed an eight-point effort at Wooster Saturday with five points, an assist, and a steal in 13 minutes of action against Earlham.