While many expected the usual battle between All-North Coast Athletic Conference players Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) from Wabash and Bryan Nelson from Wooster, it was senior reserve Eric Buck (Indianapolis, IN/Cardinal Ritter) (photo) that provided much of the firepower for the Little Giants on offense.
Buck scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting after coming off the bench for Wabash at the center position. He also grabbed five rebounds and a steal before fouling out in the final minute of the contest.
DesJean also kept the Wabash offense on track, scoring 16 points while grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
Offensive rebounds were a weapon that Wabash took advantage of on Saturday. Wabash grabbed 17 missed shots, converting the extra opportunities into 13 points. The Little Giants outrebounded Wooster 31-23. The two squads battled back and forth midway through the final period before Wooster took the lead for good on a layup by Nelson with 1:49 remaining in the contest.
Wooster took a seven-point lead midway through the first half and held the Little Giants at bay, despite two scoring runs by Wabash that cut the Wooster lead to one. The Little Giants cut the lead to one on four different occasions in the second period before finally taking their first lead of the game at 52-51 two Buck free throws.
Wabash took a two-point lead on a Buck jumper with 9:22 left, but the Scots tied the game again with a jumper of their own with 8:46 remaining.
The score was tied two more times until Wooster put a 6-0 run together with 3:57 left in the game. The Little Giants answered with a 6-0 run of their own, culminating in another tie score, this time at 65-65 on a sweeping drive to the right side of the basket by Buck his final points of the game. A layup by Nelson and three-pointer by freshman guard Kyle Witucky gave Wooster a five point advantage that Wabash cut to three with a jumper by Bart Fortner with :54 left. The Scots put the final four points on the scoreboard on free throws by Nelson and a final steal and layup to finish the game. A Wabash layup made the final score 74-69 at the final buzzer.
Senior Brady Claxton (Shelbyville, IN/Shelbyville) added 13 points for Wabash. The Little Giants fall to 13-7 with the loss, 7-5 in the NCAC. Wabash will return to Chadwick Court on Wednesday, February 12 for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Ohio Wesleyan University.