For the second time in five days Wabash needed a buzzer-beater for a victory. This time the Little Giants could not connect, losing 81-80 at 23rd-ranked Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday night.
 
Wabash trailed 79-77 in the final minute before Kasey Oetting hit his sixth three-pointer of the night to give the Little Giants an 80-79 lead. Wabash fouled with 10.2 seconds left to send Claude Gray to the stripe to keep enough time on the clock for the late attempt. Gray hit both free throws to put the Battling Bishops up a point. Houston Hodges passed to Oetting in the right corner for the game-winner, but his shot hit the back iron and careened away from the rim. Austin Burton, the Wabash hero Friday night in a 73-72 win at Hiram, could not get a shot away before the buzzer.
 
"Guys just made plays," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said. "We really competed in the second half. There just wasn't a possession where we didn't battle. As a coach that's what you're looking for. That's what's given us opportunities to look like we're progressing as a team against the better competition.
 
"Just in that final series guys made plays. Kasey's making shots. Houston, again in a big situation, gets a big steal. I think we're instilling a culture where we weren't afraid to be in that position where we needed to get a stop. Fouling when we did to get a shot at the end, the timing worked out but we definitely didn't want to put Gray on the line if we could help it. But they've got good players too, especially Claude."
 
The Little Giants claimed an early six-point lead on back-to-back triples from Oetting. Wabash held a one-point lead with 4:30 left in the first half before OWU (18-4, 13-2 NCAC), the leading team in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, rode a 16-4 run to an eventual 45-34 halftime lead.
 
Wabash began pounding the ball inside in the second half. Marcus Kammrath scored two of his 12 points to answer a Nick Felhaber triple and spark a 6-0 run. Daniel Purvlicis hit back-to-back layups to bring the Little Giants within five. Ohio Wesleyan pushed the lead back to 11 before Wabash rallied again.
 
Austin Burton fired home a three-pointer after a pair of Daniel Scofield free throws for a 58-49 deficit. Zach Patton nailed a jumper for two of his career-best 10 points to bring Wabash within five. Kammrath scored three consecutive layups to answer baskets by OWU to keep the Battling Bishops' lead to three with 8:54 left to play.
 
Scofield followed another Patton basket to trim the lead to a single point, 65-64 before Patton put Wabash in front for the first time in the second period with a left-side baseline jumper. Nat Axelrod, who led both teams with 24 points, drove for a basket to regain the lead for OWU.
 
That lead stretched to as many as eight points with 3:44 left to play before Wabash mounted its final rally. Purvlicis hit a free throw, followed by another Oetting three to make it 77-73. Ben Simpson connected on a pair of free throws for a 79-73 lead. Oetting answered the call again for a 79-76 edge with 1:47 remaining. Hodges stepped in front of the subsequent inbound pass and was fouled as he tried to convert the steal into a score, hitting one of two free throws instead. Wabash got the ball back off the miss but failed to pick up any points, but held on defense to get the ball back.
 
Oetting nailed his final jumper of the night with 35 seconds left to play to put the Little Giants up 80-79, setting up the final series of plays.
 
Wabash was red-hot from the field, shooting 30-of-55 for 54.5 percent including 63 percent (17-of-27) over the final 20 minutes. The Little Giants hit 10-of-18 three-point tries for 55.6 percent. Ohio Wesleyan scored on 25-of-61 shots from the field (41 percent), going 13-of-31 from beyond the arc.
 
Oetting led the Little Giants with 18 points. Purvlicis scored 17, giving him 849 for his career. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to record his fourth straight double-double and sixth overall this season. Wabash played without the services of sophomore guard Kyle Aiton, who was a game-time decision after suffering an injury at Allegheny Saturday. Aiton entered the game averaging 12 points a contest.
 
Gray finished with 22 points in addition to the 24-point effort by Axelrod for Ohio Wesleyan.
 
"We were a little inconsistent in where and when we were following our game plan. We put Ohio Wesleyan on the free throw line more than we would have liked and we didn't get there enough. It was an exciting game and I'm pleased with our ability to put points on the board in the second half to be in that position at the end."
 
Wabash (14-8, 9-6 NCAC) held its position in third place in the NCAC standings thanks to a 54-53 win by Wittenberg at DePauw. The Little Giants return to Chadwick Court Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest against Denison University to begin a three-game home stand to close out the regular season.