Wabash lost its Saturday afternoon basketball shootout at Wooster by a score of 106-101 despite a career-high 34-point effort from junior guard Tyler Watson.
 
Watson finished with 34 points in 29 minutes of playing time despite picking up his fourth personal foul early in the second period. The junior connected on 11-of-19 shots from the field, hit 4 three-point attempts, and finished 8-of-9 from the free throw line. He scored 22 points in the second half.
 
Watson was one of six Wabash (3-4) players to score in double figures in the contest. Kellen Schreiber finished with 17 points. Cam Chadd scored a career-best 12 points. Connor Rotterman, Reis Thomas, and Avery Beaver each finished with 10 points.
 
Wooster (1-2) also took advantage of its offensive opportunities. All five starters recorded double-figure scoring efforts, led by Brandon Styers with 30 points. Tayler McNeal tallied 19 points. Eric Mudd and Hamilton Johnson added 17 points apiece. Najee Hardaway chipped in 12 points for the Scots.
 
Free throw shooting proved to be the biggest difference maker in the game. Wabash shot well from the stripe at 91.7 percent with an 11-of-12 effort. But the host Scots paraded to the free throw line 33 times to take advantage of a 24-13 foul differential that went against the Little Giants. Wooster hit 28 of those 33 attempts for 84.8 percent with the 17-point edge in extra free throws made providing the difference in the close contest.
 
The Little Giants held an 11-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Wooster used a 22-9 run to close out the half and take a 46-44 lead to the locker room at halftime. Wabash regained the lead three minutes into the second half on a three-point basket by Watson to make it a 55-54 contest. The Scots jumped back in front on a pair of Hardaway free throws, two of 24 made by the Scots over the final 20 minutes of action.
 
Wooster eventually claimed an eight-point advantage midway through the final period, only to see Wabash rally with an 11-3 run. Baskets by Thomas, Champ McCorkle, Chadd, and Watson came ahead of a turnaround jumper from Schreiber in the lane to tie the score at 79-79 with 7:19 left in the game. The Scots went on a scoring run of their own to take a nine-point lead at 88-79 with five minutes showing on the clock.
 
Wabash once again closed the advantage to one point with 2:24 to play only to see the Scots pull away again by as many as eight points with a minute remaining in the contest. The Little Giants drew as close as three points at 104-101 on a Chadd three-pointer with eight seconds left on the clock before two final free throws by Wooster put the game away for good.
 
Wabash made 40-of-69 attempts from the field for 58 percent shooting. The Little Giants finished 10-of-29 from three-point range (34.5 percent). Wabash also handed out a season-best 21 assists in the game, led by Rotterman's six helpers.
 
Wooster shot 35-of-65 from the field (53.8 percent) and 8-of-18 from three-point range (44.4 percent). The Scots owned a 34-26 edge in rebounding.
 
Wabash returns to action Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. home contest against Ohio Wesleyan University. No spectators are allowed at the game. Fans can watch the live broadcast over the Internet at https://team1sports.com/Wabash and follow live statistics updates at https://sports.wabash.edu/sidearmstats/mbball/summary.