The Wabash basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday evening in an 83-80 contest against Wilmington College in the opening round of the 2018 Kiwanis Holiday Classic held at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
 
The Little Giants (10-1) jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first four minutes of the game, including a 6-0 run to begin the game. Wilmington (6-4) eventually cut the lead to two points at 17-15 on a three-point basket by Will Patrick. The Quakers used the three-point line to their advantage, hitting 9-of-26 long-range shots (34.6 percent) compared to a 4-of-25 effort (16 percent) by Wabash. The Little Giants rebuilt its lead to as many as ten points when Ben Stachowski scored on a layup with 7:10 remaining in the first half to lift Wabash to a 28-18 advantage. Wilmington answered with an 11-2 run to draw with one point at 30-29.
 
Jack Davidson ended the run by hitting one of his three-point baskets followed by a pair of free throws to push Wabash back in front by six. Davidson finished with a career-high 26 points, hitting 8-of-17 shots from the field, including 3-of-8 from three-point range. He added 17-of-18 free throw attempts as Wabash scored on 20-of-26 free throw tries in the contest.
 
With the Little Giants in front 35-29, the Quakers put together another run to tie the score at 35-35 before Davidson closed out the half with two free throws to provide Wabash a 37-35 lead at the break.
 
DaeShawn Jackson scored three of his team-high 21 points to begin the second half to give Wilmington its first lead of the game at 38-37. The Quakers pushed its lead nine points at 50-41 six minutes into the final period, maintaining the advantage until Wabash begin trimming it down to two points at 61-59.
 
The Little Giants battled back to a tie at 67-67 with 5:19 left to play on two more Davidson free throws. Davidson scored on a layup to put Wabash back in front 69-67, but Jackson tied the score with a pair of free throws. The two teams remained within a single possession over the next three minutes. Davidson tied the game for the fifth time with a three-pointer to make the score 78-78 with 2:12 showing on the game clock. Abdul Kanu gave Wilmington its final lead of the game with a free throw in the final minute, then added two more charity tosses for an 81-78 lead for the Quakers. Davidson scored on two free throws with 18 seconds left to cut the lead to one point.
 
Wilmington's Kevin Lewis stepped to the free throw line with 15 seconds remaining and hit one of two attempts for an 82-80 lead. Lewis added another free throw ten seconds later, giving the ball back to Wabash for a final attempt to try and send the game into overtime. Connor Rotterman's last-second three-pointer was blocked just ahead of the buzzer to give the Quakers the three-point victory.
 
Harrison Hallstrom scored 15 points to join Davidson in double-figure scoring for Wabash. The junior post added a game-best nine rebounds despite a 44-41 edge in total rebounds held by Wilmington. Rotterman added 10 points for the Little Giants.
 
Five Quakers scored in double figures, led by Jackson with 21 points. Lewis scored 17 points, while Patrick chipped in 15 points. Patrick scored 11 points, with Kanu finishing with 10 points.
 
Wabash will play Bryant and Stratton College on Saturday in the final day of competition at the Classic beginning at 2:15 p.m.