Second-chance baskets brought an end to the 2016-17 Wabash College basketball season Tuesday night. The Little Giants lost 89-68 to the College of Wooster Fighting Scots in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
The host Scots converted 10 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points in the game. Wooster led by nine at halftime, 41-32, and had nine second chance points in its stat column. The Little Giants also committed 14 turnovers that led to 13 points for Wooster.
 
"There were stretches in both halves, particularly the first half, where we gave up too many second chance points along with points off turnovers. We had talked about that prior to the game and we talked about it again at halftime.
 
"Wooster is a handful. They are really talented and combine that with high-level athletes at the Division III level. They are as athletic a team as there is. When you turn the ball over they get out in transition. When you get them to miss and don't get the defensive rebound, you quickly find yourself behind.
 
"I most proud of the fact there was not time where our guys gave in. There was the stretch where Wooster pulled ahead, but we were still able to make some plays to cut the lead to single digits at halftime."
 
Wabash took the early 4-2 lead on baskets by Ben Stachowski and Harrison Hallstrom. Wooster (19-7) responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead it would hold for the remainder of the contest. The advantage expanded to 11 points with 6:26 remaining in the first half until the Little Giants mounted a rally.
 
Duncan Roy sparked the comeback effort with one of his three three-pointers on his way to an 11-point night. Hallstrom followed with a basket to trim the lead to six, then added another two points to make the score 27-23. The Scots drove the lead to 12 in the closing minute of the half, but CJ McMann produced a three-point play on a drive to the hoop with five seconds left in the half on a basket and a free throw to trim the scoring edge to nine points at the break. McMann, playing in his final game for Wabash as a senior guard, finished with 10 points.
 
"CJ has been a bridge to what we're trying to change the culture to," Brumett said. "When I took the job at Wabash I've tried to study the success of some of our other programs like football, wrestling, cross country, track and field. Houston Hodges in our first year really tried to bring some of that football mentality to our group. CJ has done that over the first three years. CJ really brought this young group in --- our sophomores in particular. He has had some ups and downs this season, but I'm so happy he was able to close it the way that he did with some great efforts against Denison and tonight against Wooster."
 
Wooster continued to hold the lead, eventually riding three-point baskets by Mitch Balser, Spencer Williams, and Milt Davis to a 67-50 advantage. Roy started another rally for the Little Giants. Stachowski added a pair of free throws to make it a 12-point game with 8:09 remaining. Davis ended the Wabash threat with another triple. The Little Giants were unable to draw any closer.
 
Hallstrom finished with 17 points seven rebounds. Colten Garland added 15 points. Logan White grabbed 10 rebounds despite missing most of the first half with foul trouble.
 
"Harrison did not score in the first two meetings with Wooster," Brumett said. "He was aggressive today. He made quick moves tonight. He had a game plan when the ball came to him. He was trying to make first contact and quick moves before the help came."
 
Williams led Wooster with 22 points. Davis tossed in 19 points. Reece Dupler scored 18 points, and Balser scored 16. The Scots outrebounded Wabash 44-38 with a 10-7 edge in offensive boards. Wooster outscored the Little Giants 16-2 in second-chance opportunities.
 
"I thought we played extremely hard. Over the last two games I've thought we showed good concentration. We finished the season trying to follow our game plan. There are a lot of positive things we can take away from the last two games. We're not happy with the outcomes of those games, but we've been much better offensively than we have been."
 
Wabash finished the season with an 11-15 record.