Wabash watched a 13-point lead with 17 minutes remaining in Sunday's final game of the James Campbell Alumni Basketball Classic disappear, giving the host Maryville College Scots an eventual 86-79 victory.
After taking a 40-32 halftime lead, Wabash boosted its advantage to 13 points with 16:54 left on the game clock when Aaron Brock drained a three-point shot for a 49-36 lead. The Scots responded with an 8-0 run that cut the lead to five before Wes Smith ended the scoring streak with a layup for two of his game-high 24 points. Maryville continued to chip away at the Little Giants' lead, eventually tying the game at 61-61 with nine minutes left on a Greg Hernandez layup.
Wabash regained the lead when Chase Haltom connected on a three-pointer and held it to three when Derek Bailey added two free throws to answer two charity tosses by Hernandez. The Scots would take the lead for the first time since the opening period on another 8-0 run before Wabash could tie the game once more with back-to-back layups by Smith and Brian Shelbourne. A final 7-0 run by Maryville in the closing minutes proved to be too much for Wabash to erase, handing the Little Giants their second loss of the season.
Wabash held Maryville to 10-of-28 shooting from the field in the first half, including 2-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc. The Scots hit on 17-of-32 in the second half to outscore Wabash 54-to-39 to earn the victory.
The Little Giants hit 30-of-61 shots in the game, but struggled from long range by shooting 7-of-23 from the three-point area. Haltom added 19 points and had four of the Little Giants' seven treys.
Smith and Brock each earned places on the All-Classic Team. Smith averaged 19 points and nine rebounds over the two games. Brock, who tossed in nine points and seven boards on Sunday, averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds for the two contests.
Wabash (1-2) returns to action Saturday in the Mike Rokicki Community vs. Cancer Tournament hosted by DePauw University.