Box Score Sometimes, shots don't fall and poor shooting becomes a team-wide epidemic. That was the case in the second half of Wabash's 50-45 loss against Wittenberg Wednesday night.

The Little Giants held Wittenberg to its third-lowest point total of the season. However, Wabash tallied only 16 points in the final half, erasing a 29-24 halftime lead for the home team.

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“You say the game is all about defense, but at some point you have to hit a shot,” Coach Antoine Carpenter said.

An 18-4 Wittenberg run to open the second half put the visitors up for good. Wabash suffered a scoring drought of almost 10 minutes during that span. The Little Giant shooters created numerous open looks, but the basketball continued to bounce off the rim.

“You want them to keep their confidence, but when shots aren't going down, you want them to try and look inside to get a bucket, as well,” Carpenter explained. “We shot the ball too quick instead of getting a ball reversal and another look inside.”

 The offensive statistics in the second half were not pretty—most notably the 15 percent field-goal percentage and 1-of-12 shooting from three-point range. Andy Walsh led Wabash with 13 points while Daniel Purvlicis scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Wittenberg big man and North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Scott Masin had a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Masin was Wittenberg's key man in the second half, tallying 12 of his 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.

"Defensively, we just wanted to compete,” Carpenter said. “We didn't do a good job boxing out; they had 18 offensive rebounds and that's not good.”

Rebounding struggles were prevalent in the final 30 seconds. The Little Giants trailed by four and had the Tigers inbounding the ball from their own baseline with only two seconds left on the shot clock. After a missed layup, tiger guard Sam Collins outran the Little Giants to the ball. He drew the immediate foul, but missed the first shot of the one-and-one free throw attempt. Little Giant defenders were still unable to snag the defensive board, despite a second chance.

“At that point in the game, it's pretty obvious you have to get a rebound,” Carpenter said. “To allow them to get an offensive rebound is a very big disappointment and to allow another one is inexcusable.”

Wabash will try to bounce back in NCAC play this weekend. The Little Giants play at Kenyon College Saturday starting at 3:00 p.m. Wabash will stay in Ohio for a Sunday game at Oberlin College at 1:00 PM. Carpenter plans to keep pushing his team.

“We're going to keep playing; we have practice tomorrow,” he said. “These guys are 18-22 years old so they should be able to play every day. It's about competing.”