Box Score Kyle Aiton's gutsy performance Saturday night guided Wabash to a victory against Kenyon, 61-52. Aiton scored a career-high 24 points and played the entire second half in the win.
 
"I believe that Kyle Aiton played like Iron Man tonight," Carpenter said. "He hit some big buckets when we needed it, and stayed focus to knock down some big free throws. You can see the intensity in his eyes that he wanted the basketball."
 
Aiton — like everyone else — was held in check in the first half. Both teams combined to shoot 14-of-51; almost 10 minutes ticked off the clock before Kenyon scored its first points. The Little Giants entered the locker room up 24-16.
 
"I think both teams were getting adjusted in the first half," Coach Carpenter said. "We both had to deal with adversity due to the late start. We had some open shots in the first half and just didn't knock them down."
 
The start time was delayed until 9 p.m. due to travel delays for Kenyon caused by winter storms.
 
Whatever struggles were caused from the adjusted routine, both teams found their rhythm in the second half.
 
First, the Lords started it on a 15-5 run to take their first lead of the game, 31-29. Each side traded buckets before Aiton sank two free throws off the one-and-one, 39-38. The free throws sparked a 15-4 Little Giant run as Kenyon never saw the lead again. Aiton scored 8 of his 20 second-half points in that span.
 
"It was tough because I sat with like eight minutes left in the first half so I was stiff," Aiton said. "But we found out Ross had a [head injury] at halftime and someone had to step up so I tried to take on that responsibility.
 
"I had a lot of help around me too," Aiton said. "(Daniel) Purvlicis was going great on the boards and guys were hitting open shots and knocking down free throws."
 
Defensively, the Little Giants held Kenyon's top-three scorers to a combined 8-of-36 shooting. Each Lords player averaged double figures entering the game, led by wingman Ikenna Nwadibia.
 
"The goal with Nwadibia was to keep him from the rim and box him out," Carpenter said. "He likes to attack and go aggressively after rebounds."
 
Nwadibia finished with a team high 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Jonathan Amador scored 12 points, connecting on four threes.
 
Purvlicis and Kasey Oetting each followed Aiton with 7 points.
 
Wabash continued to show improvement at the charity stripe. The Little Giants connected on 75 percent of their second-half free throws and made 71 percent for the game.
 
Wabash will play host to DePauw Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff in Chadwick Court.