Box Score A final pass came up inches short for Wabash in a valiant come-back effort Wednesday night. The Little Giants rallied from a 15-point deficit in a 75-74 loss at DePauw in North Coast Athletic Conference basketball action.
 
Trailing by a point, the Little Giants grabbed a missed shot by the Tigers with nine seconds left to play. Kasey Oetting snared the rebound and hit Houston Hodges with the outlet pass. The junior guard raced up the floor and tried to find Daniel Purvlicis underneath the basket for a game-winning layup just ahead of the buzzer. However, DePauw's Tommy Fernitz hustled back and broke up the pass to end the rally for Wabash.

View photos from the game here.
 
Early miscues buried the Wabash basketball team just enough Wednesday night at DePauw. The Little Giants surrendered the game's first 11 points in the one-point loss defeat.
 
Andy Walsh helped keep Wabash fighting to the end, equaling his career-high with 20 points. However, Adam Botts and his career-best 29 points were too much to overcome.
 
"I'm proud of the guys with the effort they played with tonight," Coach Antoine Carpenter said. "To get down early and fight back took a lot of courage and team embodiment. We all came together and continued to fight and claw back into the game."
 
Turnovers plastered the 11-0 deficit. Wabash committed five turnovers and only attempted one field goal before Austin Burton hit two free throws.
 
Walsh and Kyle Aiton helped keep the team within striking distance. Walsh scored 11 points in the first half and Aiton tossed in 8 of his 10 total points.
 
"We had some turnovers early on that put us in the hole," Walsh said. "I know my role on the team is to come off the bench and try to provide a spark. My teammates and coaches trust me when I shoot, and when I go in they give me a lot of confidence."
 
At times, Walsh provided the ignition. He connected on 3-of-4 three-point attempts, both open shots and attempts with a defender's hand in his face.
 
Each team compiled runs in the first half, but the Little Giants never trailed by more than 12 points and entered the locker room down 45-33.
 
"The most important thing was sticking with the game plan and not let the lead get out of hand," Carpenter said. "I think we did a good job of that. We continued to get scores, but turnovers really hurt us in that first half."
 
Wabash trailed by 15 in the second half, but a 16-6 run propelled the team back into the game, 57-52. With eight minutes to go, DePauw (17-7, 12-5 NCAC) had pushed the lead to 10. Walsh responded with a personal 6-0 run, connecting on two three-point tries to put DePauw in front 67-63 with six minutes left. A nail-biting battle to the finish ensued.
 
"I love the fact that we travel so well in this bitter rivalry with us and DePauw," Walsh said. "Our student sections are about the same size and everybody is screaming. Any basketball player dreams about playing in this atmosphere as a kid."
 
The Little Giants closed the score to 73-72 after Pete Nicksic grabbed an offensive rebound and found Hodges open on the wing for three. Botts answered with a difficult fade away jumper at the other end, 75-72. Oetting connected on two clutch free throws to cut the score to a point, setting up the final seconds of action.
 
After shooting 62.5 percent from three-point range in the first half, the Tigers only connected on a third of their attempts from behind the arc in the second period. DePauw shot 47.2 percent on the night, but fewer second-half possessions limited the Tigers to 30 points.
 
After committing 11 first-half turnovers, Wabash committed only three over the final 20 minutes.
 
Oetting's 12 points gave him the second-highest total for the Little Giants. Daniel Purvlicis scored 10 and grabbed 6 rebounds.
 
For DePauw, Bob Dillon followed Botts with a career-high 15 points while Luke Lattner scored 10. Center Fernitz scored 8, grabbed 9 boards, and had 5 blocks.
 
Wabash (8-15, 7-10 NCAC) will travel to Kenyon Saturday for a 3 p.m. tipoff in a game that will determine which team the Little Giants will face in the opening round of the NCAC Tournament.