Box Score Houston Hodges celebrated his 19th birthday with a career-high 19-point effort at Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday night, but the Battling Bishops nailed a late three-pointer to spoil the party with a 66-64 victory over Wabash.
The Little Giants erased an 11-point first half OWU lead to eventually lead 64-63, but Nick Felhaber nailed his only three-point basket of the ball game with 13 seconds remaining to put the Bishops in front by two. Wabash had a final opportunity for the win, but a three-point shot from the top of the key by
Andy Walsh hit the back of the iron.
OWU (14-4, 6-3 NCAC) took a 9-2 lead in the first five minutes of the contest, thanks mostly to the hot-shooting of Tim Brady. The senior finished with a game-high 31 points, tallying 17 in the first half. Brady nailed back-to-back baskets to put the Bishops up 20-9 with 11:13 left in the first period before the Little Giants would mount a rally.
Hodges,
Nick Curosh, and
Brian Shelbourne triggered an 11-6 run to cut the lead to four points, but could get no closer before OWU took a 32-28 lead to the locker room.
Aaron Zinnerman, Hodges, and Shelbourne helped keep the Little Giants even with OWU in the second period before Hodges drilled a three-pointer from the right wing to give Wabash its first lead of the contest at 60-59 with 2:49 remaining. Brady hit two free throws at the other end, but Shelbourne drove to the hoop to put Wabash back in front with 1:29 left to play.
Brady missed a left baseline shot attempt, but a Wabash turnover gave the ball back to the Bishops with 23 seconds showing on the game clock. That's when Felhaber got loose on the left wing and drilled the long-range jumper — one of three treys the Bishops hit in 17 attempts. After a timeout the Little Giants nearly lost the ball, but a tie-up gave Wabash one last chance with 1.6 seconds. Hodges hit Walsh at the top of the key with the inbound pass for the last-second shot that just sailed long.
Hodges shot 5-of-8 from the field, including three treys and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Zinnerman tossed in 17 points while Shelbourne added 11 points. Wabash shot 24-of-57 from the field for 42 percent, while OWU was 25-of-61 for 41 percent. The Little Giants hit 8-of-16 three-point attempts, while the Bishops shot 17 percent from long range.
Marshall Morris added 20 points for the Battling Bishops.
Wabash (14-4, 6-3 NCAC) falls into a four-way tie for second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with OWU, Wooster, and DePauw. The Little Giants return to Chadwick Court for a 3 p.m. contest against Denison University. Wabash will play its annual alumni basketball game at 1 p.m. prior to the tip against the Big Red.
