Wabash overcame a sluggish start to defeat Ohio Wesleyan University 80-68 Wednesday evening at Chadwick Court. The victory pushed the 11th-ranked Little Giant basketball team's record to 17-1 for the season and 11-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference games.
 
Wabash fell behind early and trailed the visiting Battling Bishops (9-9, 4-7 NCAC) nearly the entire first half. The Little Giants eventually erased a seven-point deficit in the opening period with a 10-2 scoring stretch. Alex Eberhard capped the run with a pair of free throws to give Wabash a 23-22 lead with 8:05 remaining in the first period.
 
The two teams traded baskets over the next seven minutes before Gabe Johnson ended the period with a three-point basket to give OWU a 36-33 lead at halftime. Wabash managed to hit just 10-of-33 shots from the field for 30.3 percent and went 3-of-18 from three-point range for 16.7 percent in the first half. Ohio Wesleyan found no issues scoring in the first 20 minutes, shooting 13-of-30 for 43.3 percent overall with a 7-of-16 performance from three-point range (43.8 percent).
 
The Little Giants fell behind by five points at the start of the second half before Harrison Hallstrom sparked a 10-0 run with eight points over the course of two minutes to put Wabash in front 43-38. Ohio Wesleyan answered with a three-pointer from Ethan Stanislawski and eventually regained the lead at 47-46 when Johnson nailed a jumper in the paint. Jack Davidson began to catch fire for Wabash, scoring the next five points to provide a 51-47 lead for the home team.
 
The Bishops whittled the lead back to one point, but Wabash freshman Jayden Edwards drained a three-point shot with 11:50 left in the game to give the Little Giants a 54-50 lead. Edwards played 22 minutes coming off the bench for Wabash with the Little Giants missing both Ben Stachowski and Connor Rotterman for the game. Edwards finished with three points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.
 
Ohio Wesleyan made one final run at Wabash, taking a 58-57 lead with 7:59 left on the game clock when Grant Gossard hit two free throws. Tyler Watson put Wabash back in front with a jump shot in the paint and hit the subsequent free throw after being fouled on the shot attempt. Johnson got OWU to within one point with 6:21 remaining before Hallstrom and Davidson pushed the Wabash lead to five points with a pair of baskets. The Little Giants managed to extend the lead to ten points with 1:20 remaining and closed out the game with four free throws before settling for the 12-point victory.
 
Wabash improved its second-half shooting, going 17-of-30 from the field for 56.7 percent and hitting 5-of-9 three-point tries. The Little Giants finished the game shooting 27-of-63 overall (42.9 percent) and 8-of-27 from long range (29.6 percent). Ohio Wesleyan struggled to find the basket in the final half, finishing 23-of-64 for the game and 10-of-32 from three-point range.
 
Davidson led Wabash in scoring with 23 points. Hallstrom added 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Eberhard and Watson each finished with 13 points. Johnson paced Ohio Wesleyan with 19 points while Gossard chipped in 17 points. Stanislawski scored 11 for the Battling Bishops.
 
The victory allowed Wabash to maintain its one-game lead over the College of Wooster in the NCAC standings. Wooster, ranked 18th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 15-3 overall and 10-1 the conference with an 81-72 win at Allegheny on Wednesday. Wabash will travel to Wooster on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest. The Little Giants won 62-60 in the first meeting between the two programs in December in Crawfordsville.