Basketball

Wabash extends winning streak over Wooster to five

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Wabash faced its third consecutive nationally-ranked opponent with the College of Wooster, 10th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, playing at Chadwick Court on Saturday. The host Little Giants extended their winning streak over the Fighting Scots to five consecutive games and 10 wins in the last 12 meetings with a 54-48 upset victory.

Wabash improves to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in North Coast Athletic Conference games. The Scots dropped to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in NCAC games. Wabash also extended its home winning streak against the Scots to eight straight victories at Chadwick Court.

Wabash never trailed in the low-scoring affair that saw both teams shoot below 35% from the field. The Little Giants finished 15 of 46 from the field (32.6

%) and made only 4 of 18 three-point tries (22.2%). Wooster made 16 of 52 field goal attempts (30.8%) and made just 7 of 24 three-point shots (29.2%).

Wabash scored the game’s first three baskets, but the Scots answered with back-to-back three-pointers to draw even at 6-6 with 14:48 on the first-quarter clock. The Little Giants end that scoring streak with a triple of their own from Josh Whack to regain the lead that held up for the remainder of the game.

Whack gave Wabash its largest lead of the first half after draining three consecutive free throws on two separate offensive possessions, putting the Little Giants up 23-16 with 4:53 left in the half. Wooster closed to four before Vinny Buccilla converted a Scots’ turnover into two points with a transition layup to provide a 25-19 Wabash lead at halftime.

Seven-foot, two-inch senior center Noah Hupmann was a dominating presence in the lane for the Little Giants in the first half. He recorded four blocked shots and snared five defensive rebounds while limiting Wooster to three offensive rebounds and no putback baskets in the first 20 minutes of the game. He finished with a game-high 10 rebounds with two points and four blocks.

The cold shooting persisted over the first four-and-one-half minutes of the second half, and neither team could score. Whack scored two more free throws to give Wabash its largest lead of the game at eight points, 27-19, with 15:27 remaining in the contest. The Scots scored the next five points to trim the advantage to two points and eventually cut the lead to one at 31-30 with 8:43 left on the clock. Whack stepped up again and made two free throws to push the lead to three points. Randy Kelley followed with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the left side of the floor to put Wabash up 36-30.

Kelley was the offensive hero for the Little Giants, scoring 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half. He connected on 3 of 5 shots in the final period and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line.

Wooster drew to within two points at 38-36 with 6:41 remaining in the game. The teams traded baskets before the Scots cut the Wabash lead back to one point at 43-42 with 3:50 left on the clock. The Little Giants came out of the media timeout and got another key three-pointer, this time from Gavin Schippert, to stretch the edge to four points. Wooster’s Nick Everett answered with two free throws as part of his game-high 15 points for the Scots. Everett finished 3 of 8 from the field but added 8 of 9 free-throw attempts for his 15-point effort.

Wabash maintained its two-point lead until Buccilla hit the decisive basket in the final minute. The senior drove through the Scots’ defense and hit a Euro-step layup with 32 ticks left on the clock to push the Little Giants’ lead to 48-44. Wooster turned the ball over on its ensuing possession and was forced to foul Kelley, who hit his two attempts to push the lead to six points.

Wooster had one last chance to make it a one-possession game in the final 12 seconds when Wabash fouled on a three-point try. The Scots made only one of the three free-throw attempts. Kelley and Schippert closed the game by making four free throws for the Little Giants, answering a three-point basket by the Scots to provide the six-point winning margin.

Wabash kept Wooster from controlling the glass as it’s done throughout the season. The Scots came into the game with a 13.2 rebounding advantage but only held a two-board advantage, 36-34, against the Little Giants. Wabash took advantage of 13 Wooster turnovers, turning the errors into 13 points. The Little Giants also outscored Wooster 22-18 in the paint.

Whack finished with 12 points. Buccilla added 10 points for the Little Giants.

Wabash continues its NCAC schedule of games with a road contest against Ohio Wesleyan at 7 p.m. Wednesday.


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