Box Score One of the greatest seasons in the 126-year history of Wabash College basketball ended Friday night with a 90-68 loss to Elmhurst in the semifinal round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
 
Wabash finished the season with an overall record of 28-4, setting a mark for the most wins in school history. The loss ended a 24-game winning streak, the longest in program history.
 
The Little Giants were making their first appearance in the championship semifinals since winning the NCAA Division III title 40 years ago when the 1982 team claimed the title. This year's Wabash team surpassed the 1982 squad's previous record of 19 consecutive wins.
 
The 2021-22 Wabash team broke school records for the most points scored in a season (2,853) and rebounds (1,150) and averaged 89.2 points a game for the second-highest average in program history.
 
The four senior members of the team – Jack Davidson, Jack Hegwood, Kellen Schreiber, and Tyler Watson – helped Wabash win 84 games over a five-year period that included Davidson's freshman year and a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. The Little Giants recorded two 20-win seasons during that run with a 21-6 record in 2018-19 to go with the 28 victories this year.
 
Davidson completes his career as the most prolific offensive player in Wabash basketball history. The senior guard departs as the program's all-time leader in points scored with 2,464, scoring average at 22.4 points a contest, free throws made (718), and games played and started with 110 appearances. He finished second in school history with 377 assists and in three-point field goals made with 324. His 817 points scored this season are 115 more than the second-highest total by a Little Giant player.
 
Watson finished his career with the fifth-highest assist total in school history at 288. He set a new single-season high with 170 assists in 32 games. Watson ranks 14^th in all-time scoring for Wabash with 1,356 points.
 
Schreiber scored 1,220 points over his four-year career to rank 16^th on the Little Giants' all-time list. He shot 69 percent from the field this season for the fifth-best single-season shooting performance in Wabash history.
 
Hegwood played in 52 games in his four-year career and finished with 71 points and 59 rebounds, including a three-point basket in his final appearance in a Wabash uniform in Friday night's semifinal contest.
 
As for the game itself, Wabash and Elmhurst both got off to a slow start on the neutral floor at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Bluejays (27-6) held a 6-4 lead after the first four minutes before scoring the next two baskets to move in front 10-4. Wabash closed the lead to two points three times over the next five minutes but was never able to tie the score. Elmhurst got a pull-up three-pointer from Jake Rhode to move back in front by five at 21-16.
 
The Bluejays scored on back-to-back Wabash turnovers to take a nine-point lead with 8:40 left in the first half. Wabash committed 15 turnovers in the game, with 12 coming in the opening 20 minutes of play for 17 Elmhurst points. The Bluejays pushed their lead to double digits and held a 14-point lead at the half, 48-34.
 
The Little Giants managed to cut the deficit to 11 points at the 14:53 mark of the final period on three free throws from Davidson. Wabash would get no closer as Elmhurst extended the lead to as many as 30 points with eight minutes left in the game before advancing to Saturday night's championship game against Randolph-Macon College.
 
Davidson finished with a team-high 21 points after being limited to five points and no baskets in the first 20 minutes of the game. He made 5-of-11 shots in the second half to score 16 of his 21 points. Watson finished with 14 points for Wabash. Ahmoni Jones ended the night with 12 points. Schreiber scored 10 points in 12 minutes before being disqualified when called for a flagrant foul in the first half.
 
Rhode led Elmhurst with 32 points. Dominic Genco came off the bench to score 20 points. Lavon Thomas added 14 points.
 
Wabash came into the game shooting 51.5 percent from the field, but manage to connect on only 23 of 67 total shots for 34.3 percent. The Little Giants shot 6-of-28 from three-point range for 21.4 percent, well below their season mark of 29.4 percent. Elmhurst finished 23-of-67 overall for a 34.3 field-goal shooting percentage. The Bluejays hit 5-of-17 three-point attempts for 29.4 percent.