Chase Haltom blistered the nets at Chadwick Court for a career-high 31 points, while sophomore teammate Dominique Thomas added a career-best 17 off the bench to give Wabash an 80-77 victory over Calumet College of St. Joseph in the second game of the 2008 Pete Thorn Tournament Friday night. (For photos, click here.)
The duo scored all of the Little Giants' final 13 points in the last three minutes of the game, including a key five-point play with Haltom with 41 seconds left in the contest.
Wabash took its first lead at 62-59 on a Haltom three-pointer with 5:11 left in the contest, trading baskets with the Crimson Wave over the next few minutes before Calumet's Robert Wright tied the game at 70-70 with 1:04 left in regulation. Haltom drove through the right side of the lane, drawing a foul on Wright while hitting the go-ahead basket. Crimson Wave head coach Ryan Sexson stormed onto the court, drawing a technical foul to add to the damage. Haltom drained all three free throws, putting Wabash in front by five.
Jon Contos answered with a three-pointer with 30 seconds left, but Thomas went to the free throw line with CJ Montgomery fouled to stop the clock. Thomas hit one of two free offerings, but Brian Maloney grabbed the offensive rebound on the missed free throw to keep the ball in the hands of the Little Giants. Another foul put Haltom at the line, where he hit twice more. Thomas added two final free tosses with six seconds left to seal the victory.
Haltom's 31-point effort came on the heels of a 23-point game in a Wabash loss at Kenyon last Saturday. He was 9-of-14 from the field, including 8-of-12 from behind the three-point arc. His hot shooting night hid a poor start from the field for the Little Giants.
Wabash missed its first five shots and were shooting just 20 percent from the field while falling behind by 10 points to the Crimson Wave in the opening period. The Little Giants improved to 13-of-33 from the field in the first half for 39 percent at the intermission, trimming the lead to five at halftime.
Haltom exploded for 22 points in the final period, hitting five consecutive threes at point in the final half while playing all 20 minutes. Thomas, who earned the starting nod in the second period after hitting three key treys in the opening half, responded with 12 points in 13 minutes of time on the court. He was 3-of-5 from the field in the second half with two three-pointers. Thomas' previous best was a 10-point game against DePauw in the consolation game of the Little Giant Tipoff Tournament earlier this year.
Sophomore Wes Smith added 15 points and seven rebounds with four assists and a steal to aid the Wabash effort. Aaron Brock had eight points, ten boards, and four assists. Maloney finished with six points and eight rebounds. Andrew Gilman pitched in three points.
Four Crimson Wave players scored in double figures, led by the 22-point effort of Wilfredo Escobar. Jon Hanselman had 14 boards and 14 points in the loss. Calumet (3-10) will play IU Southeast in the consolation game Saturday at 1 p.m.
Wabash (3-3) meets Marian College (5-4) in the championship game of the Pete Thorn Tournament for the fifth time. The game will take place 30 minutes after the consolation game Saturday. The Knights advanced to the title matchup with a 71-62 victory over IU Southeast. Jordan Tucker led Marian with 19 points in the win.