Wabash went scoreless for the first five minutes of Thursday night’s North Coast Athletic Conference basketball game at Wittenberg before eventually losing 75-64 to Tigers.
The loss came despite a season-high 25 points from junior forward Aaron Brock. Brock finished 9-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw stripe. He added two assists and two rebounds. He has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games and increased his season scoring average to 14.5 points a contest.
The Little Giants fell behind 9-0 during the early scoring drought to lose for the 14th consecutive time in Springfield, Ohio and the 16th time in 19 conference games against Wittenberg. Wabash has never defeated Wittenberg in any game played in Springfield, Ohio dating back to 1974.
Brock ended the scoreless streak with a basket at the 14:22 mark of the first half. The Little Giants would continue to struggle on the offensive end of the floor in the first half, committing 13 turnovers while scoring 22 points. Brock accounted for half of the Wabash first half scoring with 11. Wabash would get as close as four points with 8:19 left in the opening period before Wittenberg used a 17-6 run to push its lead to 15 points at the half.
The Little Giants exploded offensively in the second period, outscoring the Tigers 42-38. Brock cut the Wittenberg lead to five points with a jumper in the final four minutes of the game. The lead would remain at five points with 1:48 left in the contest before the Tigers closed out the game with an 11-5 run for the victory.
Ben Burkett came off the bench to score 14 points and lead the Wabash rebounders with nine. Wes Smith had four assists and eight points with four rebounds.
Kevin Murray led Wittenberg (9-8, 6-3 NCAC) with 18 points. Josh McKee chipped in 15, while Alex Brandt had 14.
Wabash (8-9, 3-6 NCAC) returns to action Saturday afternoon at home against Kenyon College. The Lords (11-7, 5-4 NCAC) lost 66-55 to Hiram Thursday evening.