The 2015-16 Wabash College basketball season came to an end Tuesday night with a 100-80 loss to Ohio Wesleyan University in the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Tournament quarterfinal round.
 
The loss also brought an end to the four-year careers of seniors Austin Burton, Marcus Kammrath, and Daniel Purvlicis.
 
The Little Giants started strong, taking a 14-9 lead on a Burton layup for the team's biggest lead of the game. Wabash held that advantage after Duncan Roy triple at the 13:08 mark before the tenth-ranked Battling Bishops (23-3) started its run. OWU outscored the Little Giants 20-4 over the next five minutes to move in front by 11. Nate Axelrod scored 12 of his game-high 30 points during that stretch for the Bishops.
 
Wabash got as close as six points in the closing minutes with baskets from Burton and Johnny Jager. The freshman paced the Little Giants in scoring with 15 points. Axelrod answered with back-to-back triples to close out the half for a 57-42 halftime lead for top-seeded OWU team. Wabash shot 18-of-34 for 52.9 percent from the field, including 6-of-8 (75 percent) from three-point range, in the first half, but the Bishops were equally hot with a 20-of-34 effort (58.8 percent) while hitting 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) of their three-point tries. OWU also scored 12 points on nine Little Giant turnovers in the opening period.
 
"The first half was a combination of the turnovers and just such hot shooting by Ohio Wesleyan," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said. "Something's got to give when you play those guys. That's why they're so good. You play any sort of traditional lineup, they have a perimeter-type guy who has an advantage. When we played them at our place the last time, Ben Simpson was 3-for-11 from the field. Tonight he comes out and makes four out of five threes. You're somewhat prepared for some of the other guys to do that. Your game plan can survive a few things, but they're so talented that they come at you in waves.
 
"We had a pretty good offensive first half, scoring 42 points and shooting 53 percent. There were some turnovers that led to some of their threes. We gave away too many turnovers that led to wide-open shots for Ohio Wesleyan. That's the difference between a 42-42 game at halftime and a 57-42 game. We saw Ohio Wesleyan's best in the first half. I asked my players --- I might even have begged my guys --- 'if we're going to lose, for our three seniors let's make sure it comes if Ohio Wesleyan gives us their best. Let's be ready to beat them with our game plan.' The way Ohio Wesleyan shot it, it put a chink in the plan. You have to give them the credit."
 
Seth Clark caught fire to start the second half for Ohio Wesleyan, scoring seven straight points to push the advantage to 20. Three-point baskets from Jager and Roy trimmed the score to 64-50, the closest Wabash would get over the final 16 minutes. Roy finished with 12 points.
 
Simpson scored 25 points for Ohio Wesleyan, while Clark chipped in 19. Simpson also grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
The three seniors made their mark on the floor and in the record book. Burton scored nine points in his final game. He connected on 109 three-point field goal attempts to tie for sixth in Little Giant basketball history. Kammrath tallied 10 points in his last game and ranked 17^th in career blocked shots with 41.
 
Purvlicis picked up 12 points in his finale. He ends his Wabash career as the third-leading rebounder (737) and shot blocker (130), and finished ninth in career-points with 1,389.
 
Brumett had high praise for the three outgoing members of his team.
 
"They're great kids first and foremost," Brumett said. "All three of them have had really great basketball moments. But at no point have they ever been anything less than great teammates, great kids to coach, and just a joy to be around. I told them after the game that I'm going to miss them in practice every day. Everyone gets to watch the games and like I said they've had great moments the past few years. But we spend so much time together throughout the year. Those moments when there are not people in the gym is probably what I'm going to miss the most."
 
The Little Giants finished the season with an overall mark of 13-13.