The Wabash College basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting effort from three-point range in Sunday afternoon's road contest at Denison University. The Little Giants connected on only 4-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc in a 66-63 loss to the Big Red.
 
Wabash (0-2) connected on its first three-point attempt of the game --- a long-range jumper from Tyler Watson who scored the Little Giants' first five points and finished with 18 points for the game. Wabash missed its next ten attempts from three-point range in the first half and it's first three tries in the second half. Avery Beaver drained a triple with 13:29 left in the game to end the Little Giants' cold streak.
 
Despite the struggles from long range, Wabash had good success close to the basket. The Little Giants scored 26 of their 34 first-half points in the paint, led by a 16-point effort from Kellen Schreiber in the first 20 minutes. The junior forward scored a team-high 26 points and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.
 
Wabash used its inside game to take a 10-point lead with 2:41 remaining in the first half. But the Big Red closed out the half with a 6-2 run to trim the Little Giants' halftime advantage to 34-28.
 
Denison (1-0) scored the first three points of the second half before Wabash responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a Reis Thomas basket, to push the lead to 40-34. Thomas scored six points and handed out six assists for the game, including four in the first half.
 
The Big Red answered with a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to erase the Wabash lead, jumping in front 44-40. Beaver's three-pointer cut the lead to one point before a Schreiber layup off a pass from Connor Rotterman put Wabash back in front 45-44 with 11:55 left to play. The teams traded baskets before Freeman Brou scored a layup to provide the Big Red a one-point lead at 48-47 midway through the period.
 
Brou's basket sparked a 9-0 Denison run that put the Big Red up for good. Wabash cut into the home team's lead, getting as close as two points with a minute left to play. The Little Giants got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final 30 seconds. A final turnover and a fast-break basket and free throw put the Big Red up by five before closing out the game with the three-point victory.
 
Wabash shot 25-of-64 from the field for the game for 39.1 percent. The Little Giants finished 9-of-12 from the free throw line and grabbed 35 rebounds.
 
Denison shot 42.4 percent from the field (25-of-59) and 26.9 percent from three-point range (7-of-26). The Big Red connected on 9-of-12 free throws and snared 41 rebounds. Three Denison players scored in double figures, led by Will Hunter's 17 points. Kevin Cheng scored 11 points, while Conor Fenton added 10 points and 11 boards.
 
Wabash will play Concordia University Chicago on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Chadwick Court. No spectators will be allowed at the game, but live video will be streamed over the Internet at https://team1sports.com/Wabash with live statistics available at https://sports.wabash.edu/sidearmstats/mbball/summary.