Wabash drained its final eight free throw attempts to sink 10th-ranked Wooster, 68-65, at Chadwick Court Saturday afternoon.

The Little Giants only shot 60 percent from the free throw line for the game, but hit the crucial attempts in the closing minutes of the North Coast Athletic Conference tilt..

"You learn a lot about yourself through the downs such as the three-game losing streak," Coach Kyle Brumett said, referring to Wabash's three games prior to Saturday's victory. "It's the high of seeing guys respond to the coaching and preparation and step up in a tough moment. We definitely had a lot of different guys do that today."

The charity stripe provided the game's toughest moments. Shortly after the Fighting Scots took their first lead, Kasey Oetting toed the line for two attempts. He made the first and rattled the second shot home to reclaim the Little Giant lead, 66-65.

A Wooster miss at the other end caromed three or four different times before Daniel Purvlicis corralled it. A quick foul with 3.1 seconds remaining sent the Wabash forward to the free throw line with a chance to all but seal the victory. Purvlicis was the guy Wooster wanted at the line, struggling there all game. He calmly drained both.

"They made a run but we didn't break apart or get down on ourselves like we sometimes do," Purvlicis said. "We stuck together and I think those last free throws were a microcosm for that. I wanted to hit them for everybody playing so hard."

Free throws provided Wabash's final 11 points. The team's last made field goal came on a Marcus Kammrath tip-in with 8:28 remaining.

The Little Giants relied on defense and rebounding in the win, a formula that worked earlier in the season. Wabash grabbed 10 more rebounds than Wooster, and held the Scots to nearly 20 points less than their season average. Brumett was proud of how his team dealt with the recent adversity.

"For teams that have struggled like we have here at Wabash for the last few years, you have to learn how to battle through adversity," he said. "You'd like to learn how to do it in a single game so you can figure it out and still win, but life doesn't work like that. I told them after the game today how proud I was of the way they handled Wednesday's loss."

Saturday's victory was Wabash's first over Wooster since 2012 when the Scots last lost at Chadwick Court. A zone defense three years ago stymied Wooster, and it proved effective again Saturday.

"They're really fast and athletic," Purvlicis said. "With the zone, we pack it in and don't let people take us away from the basket."

The Little Giants started fast with a quick 6-0 run in the opening minutes to force an early visitor timeout. Led by Austin Burton's 11 points, Wabash amassed a 12-point lead in the first half, but Wooster cut that deficit to seven at half time, 36-29.

The lead withered to one point with 12:36 remaining, but the Little Giants answered with a 10-0 run, 57-46. They would not make a field goal the rest of the game.
Scots guard Xavier Brown hit consecutive well-challenged threes late to give Wooster its only lead before Oetting's and Purvlicis' free throws.

Purvlicis garnered his third double-double of the year, leading all players with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Burton finished with 15 points while Kyle Aiton scored 13, going six-for-six from the line. Oetting added 10 and seven boards while Kammrath came off the bench to score seven points and grab seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Spencer Williams scored 18 for Wooster (15-4, 9-3 NCAC) and forward Evan Pannell had 13 with nine boards. Brown scored 11.

The Little Giants enjoyed a 34-22 scoring advantage in the paint, a 19-6 lead for points-off-turnovers, and had 10 more second-chance points than Wooster. The statistics added up to victory, and a much-needed mid-season boost for Wabash.

"I think with the losing streak, the players got away from having fun," Purvlicis said. "We were so focused on trying not to lose, we got a little caught up in little mistakes. Today, when some things went wrong we didn't second guess what we were doing."

Wabash (12-7, 7-5 NCAC) has a week off before it hits the road for a Friday-Saturday double-header at Hiram (8 p.m.) and Allegheny (3 p.m.). The Little Giants are tied with Allegheny for third in the NCAC standings.