Box Score Last Friday night Wabash hit nearly every three-point shot the team took. Wednesday night the Little Giants struggled to score from outside in a 64-55 home loss to arch-rival DePauw for Wabash's first North Coast Athletic Conference loss of the season.
Wabash scored only one three-point basket in the contest, shooting 1-of-15 from beyond the arc for 6.7 percent.
Jordan Surenkamp hit the only long-rang shot for the Little Giants with a trey in the first half.
View photos from the game
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"We were shooting way too many three-point attempts in the first half," Wabash head coach Antoine Carpenter said. "We talked as a team before the game about the number of three-point shots we've been taking lately and that was something we didn't want to do tonight. We did take some open shots and we still expect guys to knock those shots down. We needed to concentrate on forcing the ball inside and getting to the rim."
Despite the poor outside shooting, Wabash held a one-point halftime lead and scored the first basket of the second half on a
Derek Bailey jumper to take a 30-27 lead.
Aaron Zinnerman and DePauw's Barry Flynn traded baskets before the Tigers exploded for a 10-0 run to take a 39-32 lead. Zinnerman,
Brian Shelbourne, and
Houston Hodges would each score to trim the advantage to one point near the midway point of the second half. Back-to-back three-point baskets by Sean Haseley stretched the lead back to seven for DePauw (9-5, 3-2 NCAC) before another Wabash run keyed by seniors Bailey, Shelbourne, and Zinnerman once again cut the score to one point with 4:29 remaining.
"We've had a lot of games like this during the early part of the season," Carpenter said. "It's a matter of getting to within a point, getting a stop on defense, then coming down on the offensive end of the floor to score and take the momentum. Two different times we had a chance to get a stop, but DePauw was able to execute and get a basket. We just didn't get that big stop we needed."
The Tigers would control the closing minutes of the contest, with Wabash forced to foul. DePauw connected on 9-of-11 free throws in the final 2:18 to claim the victory and even the season series at a game apiece after Wabash defeated the Tigers 62-47 in a non-conference contest at Greencastle earlier this season.
Bailey finished with 17 points to lead 14th-ranked Wabash in scoring. Zinnerman tossed in 13 points, and Shelbourne scored 12 before fouling out late in the contest. Hodges handed out five assists --- all in the first half.
Pete Nicksic and Surenkamp paced Wabash with
Flynn scored 15 to pace DePauw, with Michael Wilkison and Haseley each adding 14.
Wabash drops to 12-2 for the season and 4-1 in the NCAC. The Little Giants will try to regroup against Oberlin College in a home conference contest Saturday at 1 p.m.
