Wabash was limited to three baskets over the final six minutes of Wednesday's North Coast Athletic Conference basketball game in Greencastle in a 58-53 loss to DePauw University.
 
The Little Giants (9-7, 5-4 NCAC) controlled the paint in the contest with 30 of its 53 points coming in the lane and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Nineteen Wabash turnovers, including nine in the second half, led not only to 17 points for the Tigers (8-8, 5-4 NCAC) but missed offensive opportunities for Wabash, as well.
 
Wabash owned a 27-24 lead at halftime but DePauw tied the score with the opening basket of the second half on a three-pointer from Luke Steinhart. Harrison Hallstrom put the Little Giants back in front with two points on a layup created by a pass from Alex Eberhard. The Tigers tied the score at 29-29 before Eberhard followed his own missed three-point attempt with a layup to put Wabash in front 31-29. DePauw evened the score again with a layup from Elijah Hales four minutes into the final period.
 
The Little Giants committed one of their 19 turnovers on the next trip down the floor that ended in a three-pointer for Steinhart to give DePauw its first lead of the second half at 34-31. The Tigers extended the lead to five points with 14:35 left to play before Justin Hensley drilled one of his three three-point baskets in the game. The teams traded baskets until DePauw moved in front by five points at 43-38 midway through the final period on a three-point shot from Matt Mahlke.
 
Wabash remained within one score after Hensley found Hallstrom underneath the basket for a layup to trim the lead to three points. Nolan Ginther answered with another long-range basket for DePauw to push the lead to 46-40. Colten Garland and Hensley scored back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to one point with 8:04 remaining in the game. DePauw responded with consecutive baskets of its own to move back in front by five points with 6:39 on the game clock.
 
Hallstrom grabbed a miss by Tyler Watson and scored a second-chance basket with 6:04 left to play in a 50-47 contest. Aaron Shank pushed the advantage to six points at 53-47 with 4:30 left to play with another DePauw three-pointer. The host Tigers shot 11-of-29 from three-point range for 37.9 percent including 6-of-12 shooting in the second half.
 
Hensley scored another three with 4:14 remaining to draw Wabash to within three points at 53-50. Neither team scored again until DePauw converted a Wabash turnover into a three-point basket from Shank and another six-point lead with 51 seconds left to play. The Little Giants turned the ball over on their next trip down the floor when Steinhart stole the ball and raced to the other end for a layup and a 58-50 led. Watson scored the final basket for Wabash on a three-point shot to finish with a team-high 12 points. Wabash fouled before DePauw could inbound the basketball. The Tigers missed the front end of the one-and-one free throw, but the Little Giants missed their final shot attempt to close out the game.
 
Wabash finished the game shooting 22-of-57 from the field for 38.6 percent. The Little Giants connected on 7-of-28 three-point attempts for 25 percent. Wabash made its only two free throw attempts with both coming in the second half. The Tigers hit 3-of-6 free throws for 50 percent.
 
Hensley finished with nine points for the Little Giants. Ahmoni Jones added eight points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. Wabash won the overall rebounding battle 39-31.
 
Steinhart paced DePauw with 18 points. Shank added 10 points for the Tigers.
 
Wabash returns to Chadwick Court on Saturday with a home contest against Denison University at 2 p.m. The Big Red upset 14th-ranked Wooster 72-71.