Junior Aaron Brock scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the final period to boost Wabash to a 69-51 victory over Oberlin Saturday afternoon at Chadwick Court.
Brock was 8-of-12 from the field, going 4-of-6 in the final 20 minutes to hold off the Yeomen after Oberlin cut an 11-point Wabash halftime lead to seven points with eight minutes left in the contest. (View photos from the game here.)
The Little Giants survived a physical game with a technical foul, intentional foul, and sophomore guard Wes Smith's departure with a back and head injury after going hard to floor on a layup attempt.
Oberlin took a five-point lead in the first period behind the three-point shooting of leading scorer Jordan Beard. Averaging 17.8 points a contest, Beard drained back-to-back trey's to put the Yeomen up 11-6 six minutes into the game. Wabash answered when Ben Burkett hit on one of two free throw attempts, but got his own rebound and found Smith in the left corner of the court. The sophomore drilled the three-pointer, cutting the Oberlin lead to one. Ten seconds later Smith went to the line after being fouled on a drive to the basket and hit both free throws to put Wabash in front 12-11. That started a 10-0 run the ended with a Brock jumper midway through the period to put the Little Giants up 16-11.
The lead would go as high as 17 points with five minutes remaining in the period before Wabash settled for a 36-25 edge at the break.
Oberlin stayed close at the start of the second half, never falling behind more than 12 points before going on a 5-0 run capped by a Joe Dilworth layup with 8:33 left to play.
After Smith scored on a jumper in the lane Brock sparked the Wabash offense by taking a pass from Brian Maloney for an easy layup to begin an 8-2 run by the Little Giants, with Brock scoring six of the eight points.
The Little Giants were poised to put the the game away with 1:24 after a driving basket and free throw by Andrew Gilman. Beard missed a shot at the other end of the floor and the Little Giants found Smith under the hoop for what could have been an easy basket. As he went up, Oberlin's Jared Ramirez knocked Smith off balance, sending him to the floor where he hit on his back. The force of the fall bounced Smith's head off the court, leaving the sophomore on the floor for several minutes while be attended by the Wabash medical staff. He would eventually get to his feet and leave the game with a possible deep bone bruise and concussion.
The injury brought fresh substitutes off both benches. The Wabash reserves scored five final points behind the four-point effort of Rich Kavalauskas and four quick rebounds from Mark Turpin for the victory.
Smith finished with 17 points, a game-high nine rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots, and two steals. Burkett added seven points off the bench for the Little Giants, while starter Chase Haltom scored seven points, as well. NCAC Player of the Week Mike Loll led the Yeomen (4-10, 1-5 NCAC) with 15 points. Beard scored 13 points while handing out seven assists.
Wabash (8-6, 3-3 NCAC) remains undefeated at home in conference play with the win. The Little Giants continue their three-game NCAC homestand Wednesday night with a 7:30 p.m. contest against in-state rival Earlham College.
Photos - (Top left) Junior Aaron Brock scored a game-high 18 points --- including six over a two-minute span in the final period --- to give Wabash a 69-51 win over Oberlin.
(Bottom right) Wes Smith went to the floor on this foul by Jared Ramirez. Smith left the game with 17 points, nine boards, and five assists.