CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN – Wabash College got a 36-point showing from the bench on the way to an 80-70 North Coast Athletic Conference basketball victory over the Hiram College Terriers at home Saturday afternoon.
 
Wabash (18-5, 11-3 NCAC) had four players score in double figures, led by Randy Kelley, who had a career-high 13 points coming off the bench for the Little Giants. Vinny Buccilla tacked on 13 points, and Ahmoni Jones helped with ten points.
 
After falling behind 29-22, Wabash went on a 5-0 run with 1:51 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Kelley, to narrow its deficit to 29-27. Hiram answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Little Giants down 30-27 entering halftime.
 
Jones scored the first basket of the second half to bring the Little Giants to within a point of Hiram (10-3, 5-10 NCAC), but the Terriers stretched the advantage back to three points thanks to free throws from Trent Jakacki. Buccilla answered with a three-pointer off a pass from Sam Comer to tie the score at 32-32. Buccilla tipped an offensive rebound off a missed Little Giant three-pointer to the top of the key to Edreece Redmond. Redmond fired the ball back to Buccilla for another long-range jumper to put Wabash in front by three points.
 
Hiram regained the lead with a pair of free throws and another basket from Jakacki, who led the Terriers with 19 points. Redmond answered with a pair of free throws to put the Little Giants up for good at 37-36 with 16:08 left to play in the game. Wabash outscored Hiram 14-4 over the next four minutes.
 
The Little Giants took a 54-47 lead before going on a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 61-47 with 7:11 to go in the contest. Kelley scored the final two points of the game for Wabash at the free-throw line to cap his 13-point afternoon. Hiram scored a pair of three-point baskets in the last minute to bring the game to a close with an 80-70 Little Giants win. Wabash got a boost from its bench in the final period, as non-starters accounted for 20 of its 53 total points.
 
Game Notes
» Wabash shot 24-of-52 from the field (46.2 percent), including a 13-for-23 effort in the second half (56.5 percent). The Little Giants shot well from three-point range, knocking down 10 of 24 long-range attempts (41.7 percent).
» Hiram finished 26-of-54 from the field (48.1 percent) and 5-of-15 from three-point range (33.3 percent.
» Wabash made 22-of-25 free throw attempts (88 percent) while Hiram went 13-of-20 from the line (65 percent).
» Wabash out-rebounded Hiram 34-24 in Saturday's game. The Little Giants got five rebounds from both Jones and Buccilla.
» Sam Comer gave out a team-high five assists in the victory.
» The Wabash bench made an impact by scoring 36 points to its scoring output. Kelley and Avery Beaver came off the bench to score 13 and 10 points, respectively.
» Jakacki led Hiram with 19 points. Dushawn Hill added 17 points for the Terriers.


This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.