Wabash found the win column for the first time in the young 2019-20 season with an 85-72 runaway victory over Earlham.
The Little Giants led 45-30 at the half, and stretched the lead back out to double-digits for good at 71-61 with 4:56 left in the second half after the Quakers (2-1) cut the lead under 10 on a number of occasions throughout the second 20 minutes of play.
“I thought we bounced back well tonight, especially in the first half,” Wabash coach Kyle Brumett said. “We made enough easy plays. We had 16 assists tonight, and we turned it over too many times, but we made enough plays.”
The win comes after Wabash blew a nine-point lead in the final four minutes of play in its opening season loss to Centre College last week.
Jack Davidson led the Little Giants with 19 points, but more importantly added a team-high seven assists.
“That’s still a work in progress for him,” Brumett said of his pass first mentality. “His default as a player is aggressive and ‘to go.’ There’s been times where we’ve needed him to become this ultra-aggresive player, and I think it’s also a product of how hard he works. He spends so much time in the gym, there really isn’t anything offensively — shooting or off the dribble that he can’t do. I think it’s just the next step of him evolving as a point guard is to be in these situations more and assist, assist, assist.”
The junior either assisted on or scored five straight buckets for the Little Giants (0-1) late in the first half, including finding Kellen Schreiber in the corner for a wide-open 3-pointer. The sophomore added 12 points in the win, while fellow classmate and teammate Tyler Watson contributed 12 more, despite early foul trouble. The duo were in the starting lineup Tuesday night, after both played reserve roles as freshmen last season.
“Him and Tyler (Watson both), we just have such high expectations for those guys,” Brumett said. “They’re just such great teammates, and work so hard at it. They’ve been such a blessing for the growth of our program.”
Wabash also dominated inside on both ends of the floor. The Little Giants out-rebounded the Quakers 34-26, and center Harrison Hallstrom recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Little Giants travel to Waukesha, WI for the Nicholas Investments Thanksgiving Classic and a tilt with Greenville University is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.
Wabash 85, Earlham 72
E 30 42 — 72
W 45 40 — 85
E (2-1): Chainey Zolman 3-9 2-3 8, John Sakaleros 5-6 1-2 11, Kenneth Stalling Jr. 5-10 7-7 17, Jamel Barnes 9-16 3-4 24, Blake Bonin 4-10 2-2 10, Thomas Sandborn 0-2 0-0 0, AJ White 0-2 0-0 , Tarig Eldosougi 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Camarillo 0-1 0-0 0, Elijah Galloway 0-0 0-0 0, Yuseff Carpenter 1-1 0-0 2, Conner Hubbard 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 27-57 15-18 72.
W (1-1): Kellen Schreiber 4-8 2-2 12, Alex Eberhard 0-2 1-4 1, Harrison Hallstrom 8-12 1-2 17, Jack Davidson 6-11 4-4 19, Tyler Watson 5-11 2-4 12, Justin Hensley 2-3 0-0 5, Ahmoni Jones 1-3 2-2 4, Jack Hegwood 1-2 0-0 2, Connor Rotterman 3-3 2-2 9, Jayden Edwards 2-2 0-0 4; Totals 32=57 14-20 85.
3-Point Shooting: E 3-15 (Barnes 3), W 7-19 (Davidson 3, Schreiber 2, Hensley, Rotterman).
Rebounds: E 26 (Stalling Jr. 6, Sakaleros 5), W 34 (Hallstrom 10).
Assists: E 4, W 16 (Davidson 7, Rotterman 3).
Trunovers: E 15, W 15
