CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN –Wabash rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to earn an 80-78 home victory over Oberlin Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the Little Giants' North Coast Athletic Conference schedule.
Wabash (6-2, 1-0 NCAC) trailed 49-34 with 17:01 left in the ballgame before riding a 25-12 scoring run over the next nine minutes to trim the lead to two points at 61-59. Champ McCorkle eventually tied the game at 63-63 with a jump shot in the lane with 6:11 left on the clock.
Edreece Redmond gave Wabash its first lead of the game with a second-chance basket with 4:33 left in the half. The Yeomen answered with a basket from Dimitrije Radusinovic with two of his game-high 29 points to put Oberlin up 66-65.
Wabash answered another basket by Oberlin with a two-pointer from Redmond and free throws from Avery Beaver to move in front 69-67 with 3:32 remaining. The Little Giants never trailed again, eventually taking their largest lead of the game at five points with 24 seconds remaining. Oberlin scored twice in the final 24 seconds to answer a Wabash free throw to provide the final two-point victory.
Close games are nothing new for Wabash and Oberlin. The Yeomen were the only team to defeat Wabash in conference play last season with an 87-85 victory at Chadwick Court. Wabash picked up a one-point win at Oberlin last year in a 75-74 contest.
The Little Giants shot 58 percent from the field for the game, thanks to a 73.1 percent effort in the second half. The Little Giants were ice cold from the field to open the game by going 1-of-7 from the field in the first six minutes of the game. Oberlin (3-5, 0-1 NCAC) took advantage of the Wabash misses, taking an 18-4 lead.
Vinny Buccilla ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer before the Wabash bench provided a spark. Gavin Schippert and Josh Whack came onto the floor and provided a quick 10 points to draw Wabash to within two points with 7:06 left in the opening period at 25-23. Redmond answered a made Oberlin basket with a three-pointer to pull the Little Giants to within a point
The Little Giants had four players score in double figures, led by Ahmoni Jones, who had 16 points. Sam Comer added 14 points, and Champ McCorkle helped out with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Redmond scored 11 points and handed out a team-high four assists.
Wabash recorded five blocks in the game. McCorkle's two rejections led the way individually for the Little Giants.
Game Notes
» Wabash shot 12-of-27 (44 percent) from the field in the first half before connecting on 19-of-26 shots for 73.1 percent over the final 20 minutes.
» Oberlin shot 32-of-64 from the field (50 percent) and went 8-of-21 from three-point range (26.7 percent). The Yeomen hit 6-of-12 three-point shots in the opening period, making five of their first six attempts from three-point range.
» Wabash handed out ten assists, led by Redmond with four. Oberlin won the rebounding battle 30-26. Champ McCorkle paced Wabash with six boards. Jones added five rebounds. Comer snared four boards.
» Dimitrije Radusinovic scored a game-high 29 points for Oberlin. Dorde Otasevic scored 17 points. Yuuki Okubo added 14 points and seven assists.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
