Wabash cut a 10-point lead by Hiram to five midway through the second half, but the visiting Terriers owned a 24-17 scoring edge down the stretch to claim an 84-72 win Friday night.
 
The Little Giants were uncharacteristically outrebounded 51-37 in the contest. Wabash came into the game with a 6.8 boards-per-game advantage versus its opponents and had only been outrebounded in five previous games with four of those coming against North Coast Athletic Conference teams. The plus-14 edge on the boards for Hiram (14-6, 8-5 NCAC) is largest differential by a Wabash opponent this year.
 
Part of the Terriers' rebounding edge came on the offensive glass. Hiram grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and produced 13 second-chance points. The Little Giants snagged nine offensive boards that turned into eight points.
 
"Hiram played well and they played hard," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said. "I didn't think our effort on the backboards in the first half was nearly what it needs to be. Obviously there were too many turnovers in the first half. We were really careless --- we threw it out of bounds, we threw it right to them, we put our teammates in bad spots. Hiram made us pay. You're playing from behind from there on out."
 
Wabash held the early lead, moving in front 11-6 just over six minutes into the game on a jumper in the paint by Daniel Purvlicis. The senior hit 12-of-17 shots for a team-high 27 points. Down five, Hiram rallied with three straight baskets, including a three-points from Jeremiah Thomas to take a 13-11 lead. Purvlicis tied the game and ended the run with another shot inside before Johnny Jager drove for a layup on the next possession to put the Little Giants back in front. Wabash once again stretched the lead to four points over the next 1:31, but once again Hiram rallied.
 
The Terriers put together a 13-0 run to take a 29-20 lead before taking a 38-33 lead into halftime.
 
Wabash worked the score back down to one possession in the second half when another Purvlicis shot in the paint made it a 46-45 contest. The Terriers used a 12-3 run to move in front 10 points before baskets by Evan Frank, Purvlicis, and three-pointer from Duncan Roy trimmed the advantage to 60-55. Hiram's final run secured the win for the visitors.
 
"I thought we played hard in the second half but it was a little late before we kind of woke up," Brumett said. "Hiram is a good team. If you give them an advantage… they came in and grabbed offensive rebounds on us. We had one offensive rebound in the first half and got no second-chance points. We're behind the eight ball."
Jager finished with 16 points for Wabash to join Purvlicis in double-figure scoring. Frank and Ben Stachowski each added eight points. Frank also snared 10 of the Little Giants' 37 boards.
 
Paul Ortiz and Ray Gaston each scored 21 to pace Hiram. Austen Rekolt added 14 and Thomas chipped in 12.
 
Wabash (10-10, 4-9 NCAC) has a chance to bounce right back into the win column in less than 24 hours. The Little Giants play Allegheny College (3-17, 3-10 NCAC) Saturday at home at 3 p.m. The Gators rallied for a 59-54 win Friday night at DePauw. The annual Wabash alumni game begins at 1 p.m. prior to the varsity contest.