Wabash shot just over 50 percent from the field while hitting 11-of-18 three-point attempts in an 86-65 victory over Allegheny College Saturday afternoon at Chadwick Court. The win, combined with Friday night's 11-point victory over Hiram gave the Little Giants a weekend sweep of North Coast Athletic games to move the team to 2-2 in league play for the season. For photos of the Allegheny game, click here and here.
The Little Giants connected on 30-of-59 attempts overall and hit 11-of-18 three-pointers in the victory. Wabash was also 15-of-21 from the free throw line.
The Little Giants trailed by as many as seven points to the visiting Gators before Derek Bailey sparked a 9-2 run for Wabash to tie the game at 20-20. Allegheny's George Raftis put his team up for the final time with 8:23 left to play in the first period with a layup before the Wabash offense exploded for a 17-5 run over the next five minutes.
Senior Aaron Brock continued his steady stream of points from Friday night's game. Coming off a 22-point effort against Hiram where he scored the first points of the game, Brock connected on 6-of-10 shots in the first half against the Gators including 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. He finished with 20 points for the contest.
Fellow senior Chase Haltom had struggled from the field heading into the contest, but shook free to light up the scoreboard for 20 points. Haltom hit 7-of-9 attempts and 4-of-5 three-point tries while handing out five assists.
With 12:28 left to play in the contest the Little Giants had connected on 9-of-12 treys to boost their lead to 14 points.
While Wabash continued to stroke shot after shot to push the advantage to as high as 24 points, the Gators struggled to find the basket. Allegheny entered the day shooting 48 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc. Wabash held the Gators to 24-of-64 shooting from the field for 37 percent and 5-of-17 on threes for 29 percent, including two three-pointers in the final three minutes. Allegheny also struggled from the line, hitting 12-of-21 free throws.
Wes Smith added 15 points and seven boards for Wabash. Brock grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Little Giants in that category.
Wabash showed good ball movement throughout the contest, tallying a season-high 19 assists. Haltom led the team with five, while Aaron Zinnerman came off the bench to record four. Ben Burkett finished with three assists to go with nine points and four boards. Bailey was 3-for-4 from the field for eight points.
Allegheny (6-6, 3-1 NCAC) got 14 points from senior George Raftis and 10 from freshman Devone McLeod. Raftis added eight rebounds for the Gators.
Brock and Smith are each on the verge of scoring more than 1,000 points in their careers. Brock finished the day with 992 career points, while Smith is one behind with 991. Haltom added his 950th career point today, as well.
Wabash (7-5, 2-2 NCAC) has won all five of its home contests this season, extending its overall home court winning streak to six games. The Little Giants travel to Earlham College Wednesday evening before returning to Chadwick Court Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest against Denison University.
Photos - (top right) Aaron Brock continued his good shooting by scoring 20 points while going 7-of-13 from the field.
(Bottom left) Chase Haltom scored a season-high 20 points in the Little Giants' 21-point win over Allegheny Saturday afternoon.