Randy Kelley nailed a three-point basket in the final seconds of regulation to send Wabash College and Eastern University into overtime in Wednesday's first game of the 2023 Catholic University Holiday Classic in Washington, D.C. The Little Giants could not come away with the victory, losing 82-76 in the extra five-minute session.

Kelley finished with a career-high 18 points. His three-pointer with 0.5 seconds on the second-period clock helped Wabash (7-5) erase an eight-point deficit in the second half. Kelley shared team-high scoring honors with freshman Nate Matelic, who finished with a career-best 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. 

Wabash faced non-stop, full-court pressure from the Eastern University (8-3) squad for the entire 45 minutes of the game. The Little Giants entered the contest averaging only 8.5 turnovers per game, the best among Division III teams. Eastern forced 21 Wabash turnovers that led to 21 points for the Eagles. The Little Giants also took advantage of Eastern miscues in the hectic and frantic ball game. Wabash turned 24 Eastern turnovers into 22 points in the contest. 

The teams traded baskets throughout the contest. The game featured 11 ties and 18 lead changes. Neither team held more than a one-basket advantage over the first 13 minutes of the game. Wabash trailed 18-16 when the Little Giants went on an 8-0 run sparked a two-point basket from Styles McCorkle and three-pointers from Avery Beaver and Ahmoni Jones to move in front 24-18. 

Eastern cut the lead to five points before a basket and free throw by Jones put the Little Giants in front 27-20 with 3:58 remaining in the first half for their largest lead of the contest. The Eagles answered with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to regain the lead at 28-27. Sam Comer hit a pair of free throws to put Wabash back in front by one, but two free throws for Eastern provided the final scoring of the first half and a 30-29 Eagles' halftime advantage. 

Beaver and Jones provided an early second-half lead for the Little Giants at 34-32, but back-to-back baskets by Kaeshawn Ward put Eastern back in front 36-34. Kelley responded with one of his four three-point baskets to give the lead back to Wabash at the 14:30 mark of the second period. 

Eastern moved back in front 41-37 before a Kelley free throw and basket by Matelic brought Wabash back to within a point at 41-40. Reeves scored for the Eagles to expand the lead to three points, but Rich Brooks and Vinny Buccilla provided back-to-back baskets to put the Little Giants in front 44-43 with 11:32 left in regulation. 

Eastern regained the lead with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to take its largest lead of the game at eight points. Beaver scored two free throws, and Kelley launched another three-pointer to trim the edge to four points at 53-49 with 7:29 left in the second period.

The Eagles stretched their lead to as many as seven points with five minutes on the clock and eventually held a four-point lead with 1:08 remaining when Wabash mounted another rally. Kelley drained another three-pointer with nine seconds remaining to make the score 67-66 in favor of Eastern. A quick foul provided two free throws for the Eagles, and the two makes made the score 69-66 with six seconds left on the game clock.

Kelley took the ensuing inbound pass and raced down the floor to an area behind the three-point line just in front of the Wabash bench. He launched a shot just before the buzzer and drained the three-pointer to tie the game at 69-69, sending the contest to overtime.

Zubair Lee and Jaron Fairweather scored two baskets for Eastern to open the overtime period. Kelley and Matelic responded with back-to-back baskets to even the score at 73-73 three minutes into overtime. The Eagles took over from there, outscoring Wabash 9-3 to send the Little Giants to their third consecutive loss.

Wabash finished 27-of-69 from the field for 39.1 percent and made 10-of-30 three-point tries for 33.3 percent. The Little Giants struggled from the line, shooting 63.2 percent (12-19) from the free throw line compared to 22 of 30 (73.3 percent) for Eastern. The Eagles made 48.3 percent of their shots from the field (29 of 60) but connected on only 2 of 12 three-point tries.

Beaver joined Kelley and Matelic in double-digit scoring with 11 points. Jones scored 12 points for the Little Giants. The Wabash bench produced 48 of the team's 76 total points.

Wabash snared 32 rebounds, led by Jones with eight. Eastern grabbed 44 rebounds. Lee led the Eagles with 23 points and grabbed a team-best ten rebounds. Ward finished with 16 points, and Fairweather added 12 points.

Wabash wraps up the 2023 portion of the schedule with a road contest against 17th-ranked Washington-St. Louis on Saturday, December 30, at 3 p.m. Central Time.

Game Notes

» Wabash found success from beyond the arc, knocking down ten treys in the game.

» Wabash played solid perimeter defense, holding Eastern to 17 percent from beyond the arc on 12 attempts.

» The Wabash bench came alive by adding 48 points to its scoring output.

» Kelley and Matelic came off the bench to score 18 points apiece.

» The Wabash defense forced 24 turnovers.

» Wabash cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting ten offensive boards in the game.

» Wabash got a team-high eight rebounds from  Jones.

Parts of this article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.