Wabash shot 61.5 percent from the field and had three players score 20 or more points on Saturday at Ohio Wesleyan University. The Little Giants needed every basket to secure a 93-88 victory and a two-game series sweep over the Battling Bishops.
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Wabash (5-4) connected on 32 of its 52 shot attempts in the ball game, including an 8-of-15 effort from beyond the three-point arc.
Tyler Watson paced Wabash with 22 points.
Kellen Schreiber, fresh off his double-double Thursday evening in the Little Giant's 65-55 win over OWU (3-5), scored 21 points.
Reis Thomas added a career-best 20 points.
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Schreiber, Watson, and Thomas were hitting nearly every shot they took. Schreiber made 9-of-11 attempts while Thomas finished 7-of-9 from the field. Watson hit 7-of-12 shot attempts including three of his five three-point attempts.
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Ohio Wesleyan answered nearly every Wabash basket, shooting 60.0 percent from the field by connecting on 32-of-58 shot attempts. OWU shot 50-percent from three-point range (13-of-26).
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Wabash hit its first 10 shots of the game before missing a layup with 11:39 left to play in the first half. The Little Giants finished the first half shooting 69.2 percent from the field (18-of-26) but were unable to pull away significantly from Ohio Wesleyan. The Battling Bishops shot 50-percent from the field in the opening period on 15-of-25 attempts and never let the Little Giants get further ahead than nine points on two different occasions.
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After leading 48-43 at halftime Wabash tried once again to put OWU away. Two baskets by Schreiber to open the second half increased the lead to nine points once again before the Bishops mounted a scoring run. Ohio Wesleyan took a one-point lead at 60-59 on a Curtis White three-point basket with 13:52 left to play in the game. Wabash tied the game at 60-60 with a free throw and retook the lead on a three-pointer by
Avery Beaver.
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Ohio Wesleyan tied the game three more times, the last at 86-86 with 1:18 remaining. Thomas put the Little Giants in front for good with a layup and Watson iced the game with a three-point basket with 19 seconds left. Two free throws for Watson in the closing seconds answered a basket by White to produce the final five-point victory.
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Wabash picked up most of its scoring in the paint with 44 of its 93 points coming within a few feet of the basket. The Little Giants scored eight fast-break points while keeping the Battling Bishops from scoring in quick transitions throughout the contest.
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Grant Spicer led Ohio Wesleyan with 17 points. Ryan Sheridan came off the bench to score 14 points. White chipped in 13 points for the Bishops.
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Wabash will play a two-game set against DePauw this week, beginning with a home contest on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Chadwick Court.
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