Johnny Jager's jumper with 1:27 left in the game provided Wabash its final lead in an 80-75 win over arch-rival DePauw Wednesday night in front of a supportive home crowd at Chadwick Court.
 
Jager scored a career-high 31 points, including 19 over the final 14:36 of the game to erase the visiting Tigers' 11-point lead. He finished the game 11-of-18 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line with a pair of three-pointers.
 
Jager started the contest with a bang, hitting a three-pointer to open the scoring, providing the early lead for the Little Giants. Wabash only led for 4:13 of the game, including the final 1:46.
 
DePauw (6-10, 2-7 NCAC) put the focus of its offense on the perimeter. The Tigers shot 30-of-63 from the field, with 10 of the team's 30 made baskets coming from beyond three-point range. DePauw did manage to score 18 points in the paint in the first half, but the Little Giants forced outside jumpers in the second half.
 
The Little Giants responded with the inside game of Evan Frank in the first half. The freshman, who averaged 15 points and 15 rebounds over two games last week, tallied eight points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes of action in the opening period. He played just three minutes in the final period.
 
Wabash held pace with the sharpshooting Tigers offense for a good portion of the first half, holding DePauw's largest lead of the first half to nine points before trailing 42-35.  
 
Wabash quickly found itself down by 10 to open the second half. Struggling to find the bottom of the net, the Little Giants needed a spark, and fast. Junior CJ McMann provided that boost with his physicality and quick bucket off the bench before finishing with four points, one rebound, and one assist.
 
"I think CJ's physicality and energy and hard work helped us to keep moving forward from the adversity we faced," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said.
 
Feeding off this newfound energy, Jager took over the game with his ball handling and scoring.
 
"We needed Jager to help us keep rallying, to help us keep putting pressure on them and ultimately putting the pressure on DePauw," Brumett said.
 
Wabash cut the deficit to two points with 8:54 left to play in the game, forcing DePauw to burn a timeout before hitting a crowd-silencing three pointer.
 
Senior Austin Burton provided however, becoming a clutch shooter down the stretch for the Little Giants. He drilled a three-pointer with 4:11 left to play to draw Wabash within two points, then connected on another triple with 2:38 left to play to knot the game at 71-71 that brought the Chadwick Court crowd to its feet, cheering.
 
"It always felt like we were going to pull it out, that we were going to grind it out," Burton said. "There's people in the community that only care about, 'Did you beat DePauw?'" Burton said, "You really want to get the win at home in front of your crowd and it feels good to knowing we did that tonight."
 
Burton scored 12 points. Daniel Purvlicis finished with 14 points --- including a pair of key free throws in the closing minutes with Wabash trailing by five points. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Marcus Kammrath came off the bench and picked up five offensive rebounds, contributing to an 11-point effort in second chance points.
 
"It was such a gutsy performance by the whole team," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said. "We were making mistakes to begin the game. We had every opportunity to hang our heads, but we kept on playing."
 
Cris Burrough scored 22 points to lead DePauw, while David Vogel added 18 points and Luke Lattner chipped in 17.
 
Wabash (9-7, 3-6 NCAC) plays Oberlin College at 3 p.m. Saturday back at Chadwick Court.