The fourteenth-ranked Wabash College basketball team held off a troublesome DePauw University squad Wednesday evening at Chadwick Court. The Little Giants defeated the visiting Tigers 70-59 to improve to 15-1 overall for the season and complete the first half of the North Coast Athletic Conference schedule undefeated at 9-0.
 
The Little Giants used a 6-0 run beginning at the 10-minute mark of the second half to stretch a one-point lead to a seven-point advantage at 54-47 with 7:13 remaining in the contest. DePauw (10-6, 4-5 NCAC) scored on back-to-back possessions with baskets from Justin McMahon to draw within three points. The lead bounced between three and five points over the course of the next four minutes before Tyler Watson connected on a pair of free throws.
 
Kellen Schreiber tipped in a missed layup for a 62-55 lead for the Little Giants with 1:03 left to play in the contest. Wabash closed out the game making all eight of its free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
 
The bulk of the game provided a back-and forth battle for the fans who packed into Chadwick Court to watch the two rivals battle. The teams traded the lead ten times with four ties throughout the course of the game. Wabash led by as many as five points in the opening half before the Tigers responded to tie the score at 32-32. Nick Felke gave DePauw a 33-32 with a free throw in the final minute of the first period. Alex Eberhard answered with two free throws to close out the half with Wabash in front 34-33.
 
Wabash extended its lead to three points in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Tigers roared back and eventually took a 45-42 lead on a jumper in the lane by Nick Felke. Schreiber hit a three-point shot to even the score at 45-45 before Colten Garland followed with a triple of his own to put Wabash back in front for good. Garland finished with 11 points off the bench for the Little Giants and moved into sole possession of fourth place in Wabash career history for three-point baskets with 141. Garland shot 3-of-6 from three-point range and 3-of-8 from the field overall.
 
Harrison Hallstrom and Tyler Watson each scored 14 points to lead the Wabash offense in the victory. Schreiber and Jack Davidson each scored 10 points for the Little Giants with Schreiber leading the team with seven rebounds.
 
Wabash shot 21-of-50 from the field for 42 percent while DePauw hit 25-of-62 shot attempts for 40.3 percent. The Little Giants limited DePauw to three long-range baskets as the Tigers hit just 3-of-25 three-point shots for 12 percent. Wabash started the game missing three of its first four free-throw attempts but finished the game 22-of-28 from the stripe for 78.6 percent. The visiting Tigers hit just six of their 12 free throw tries for 50 percent.
 
Andrew Kus paced DePauw in scoring with 13 points along with a team-best eight rebounds. Nolan Ginther added 11 points and seven boards.
 
Wabash starts the second half of the conference schedule at Denison Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip. The Little Giants defeated Denison 83-57 at home back in December.