Wabash battled third-ranked Wittenberg in North Coast Athletic Conference basketball action Wednesday night, matching the undefeated Tigers shot for shot in the second half in an 84-72 road loss for the Little Giants.
 
Wabash (11-11, 7-8 NCAC) shot 16-of-33 over the final 20 minutes of the game after trailing 38-28 at halftime. The Little Giants could not shut down Wittenberg (22-0, 15-0 NCAC) on the offense end of the floor. The Tigers shot 14-of-26 from the field in the final period (53.8 percent). Wittenberg finished 28-of-57 from the field for 49.1 percent. The Tigers came into the game shooting 50 percent from the field for the year.
 
The Little Giants took an early 3-0 lead on a Conner Rotterman three-point basket. The freshman finished with 18 points, with all of his baskets coming from behind the three-point arc by going 6-of-11. Wittenberg responded with a 19-2 scoring run to take the lead.
 
Wabash refused to go away by whittling the deficit down to ten points after trailing by as many as 15 points on a defensive rebound by Jack Davidson that led to a fast-break drive and pass to Rotterman for one of his triples.
 
Trailing by ten at the break, the Little Giants remained even in the second half until Rotterman nailed another three to make the score 49-43 with 13:56 left to play in the game. Wittenberg kept trying to pull away but Wabash kept the score as close as six points five different time in the period, the last time coming at 70-64 with 4:25 remaining.
 
The Tigers regained the double-digit lead with three minutes left to play before posting the 12-point victory.
 
Davidson scored 19 points to lead Wabash, with 12 coming in the second half. Alex Eberhard added 14 points. Conner Brens came off the bench to finish with 10 points.
 
Chad Roy dominated the paint, scoring a game-high 22 points for Wittenberg. The 6-10 senior helped the Tigers tally 42 of their 84 points in the paint. Jacob Bertemes finished with 18 points for Wittenberg
 
Davidson, the NCAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week, moved into third place in Wabash single season free throws made with 160 after hitting 9-of-11 from the stripe against the Tigers. He trails Josh Estelle in second place with 166 made free throws in the 1999-2000 season. Chad Tabor holds the single-season record with 183 in 1996-1997.
 
The Little Giants travel to Oberlin College Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest.