Senior Aaron Brock scored the first 14 points of the game for Wabash, followed by a 10-point outburst by junior Wes Smith to guide the Little Giants to a 71-60 victory over Hiram College Friday night. The home victory was the first of the season for Wabash in North Coast Athletic Conference play.
Brock drilled the first of his two three-point baskets in the first two minutes of action to give Wabash a 3-2 lead. The senior forward took over inside and outside, connecting on five of his first eight shots to go with two free throws that put the Little Giants down 17-14.
View photos from the Little Giants' home win here.
Smith took over with 8:08 left to play in the first half, scoring his first basket on a layup to cut the Terriers' lead to five points after a 4-0 run by Hiram. Another layup by Smith was followed by his first steal of contest --- the 144th of his career to pass Mike Holcomb '82 for all-time Wabash record. The Little Giant junior raced toward the basket and was unable to get the layup to fall, but grabbed the offensive board and earn two free throws on a foul to trim the Hiram lead back to three points. Smith added one more steal on the evening to finish the night with 145 career thefts.
The Terriers held the advantage until Smith's 12th point of the first half --- moments after Brock had scored his 16th point of the period --- to give the Little Giants a one-point lead. Brock added two more points to pick up 18 in the first half ahead of a three-point play by Dominique Thomas. Wabash closed out the half with last-second tipin by sophomore Brian Shelbourne off a rare Brock miss to give the Little Giants a 35-29 halftime edge.
Wabash stretched the lead to 11 points over the first 3-1/2 minutes of the final period before Hiram rallied on baskets by Chris Roberts and free throws from Babjide Eniola to draw to within four points. Thomas responded with a huge three-point basket from 21 feet out ahead of a driving layup by Shelbourne. Nick Russo's back-to-back treys brought the Terriers back to within three points before Wabash sparked a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Brock led Wabash with 22 points, while Smith added 21 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Roberts paced the Hiram effort with 11 points.
The most emotional moment of the game came in the second half when sophomores Derek Bailey and Nick Curosh checked into the contest. Both missed the entire first half after traveling back from Springfield, Ohio to attend the wake of Curosh's roommate, Josh Linthicum. Linthicum died Monday morning from complications during hip surgery performed in Cincinnati. Each played nine minutes in the second half.
The victory put Wabash over the .500 mark with a 6-5 record and was the fifth consecutive home win, with four to start the 2009-2010 after posting a win in the home finale last year. The Little Giants were playing their first home conference game of the season, picking up their first NCAC victory after road losses at Denison and Wooster.
Hiram lost for the first time this year in league play after starting 2-0 for the year. The Terriers fall to 5-7 overall.
Wabash returns to action Saturday afternoon with another home conference game against Allegheny College. The Gators (6-5, 3-0 NCAC) were 79-58 winners at Earlham Friday night. Allegheny was led in scoring by senior forward George Raftis' 16-point effort.
Photos - (top right) Aaron Brock scores two of his 18 first-half points in the Little Giants' 11-point win over Hiram. Brock led all scorers with 22 points.
(Middle left) Wes Smith scored 21 points while becoming the all-time leader in steals in Wabash basketball history. The junior recorded his 145th career steal to break the mark of 143 set by Mike Holcomb '82.
(Bottom left) Sophomore Brian Shelbourne was 3-for-3 from the field, scoring six points to go with three assists and two steals in 24 minutes of play Friday night.