WOOSTER, OH -- Wabash College earned a berth in the championship game of the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with a 75-67 victory over arch-rival DePauw University Friday night at Timken Gymnasium.

The victory secured a 12th 20-win season for Wabash (20-7) and a second straight chance to win a conference title. The Little Giants won the 2022 championship with an 85-84 overtime victory against Wooster at Chadwick Court.

The Little Giants will face Wooster once again in the title game, this time at Timken Gymnasium in Wooster, Ohio, at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The host Scots defeated Denison 79-54 in the second semifinal contest. 

All five Wabash starters scored in double figures in Friday evening's win. Ahmoni Jones paced the Little Giants' scoring effort with his second double-double of the season, tallying 15 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Sam Comer notched his third double-double of the year with ten points and ten assists. Gavin Schippert, Vinny Buccilla, and Edreece Redmond each added 11 points. Freshman Josh Whack came off the bench to score 14 points.

Whack knocked down a dagger jumper with 1:18 left in the fourth quarter to put Wabash up 70-62. He made three free throws in the final minute to lock away the victory.

Wabash led 37-26 at halftime and raced to a 19-point lead, 50-31, three-and-a-half minutes into the final period. DePauw (18-9) went on a 21-4 run over the next eight minutes to make it a two-point contest, 54-52, with 8:10 remaining in the game.

Wabash responded with a driving layup from Buccilla off a Tiger turnover to put the Little Giant up by four points. The Little Giants took advantage of 12 DePauw turnovers, scoring 16 points on those opportunities.

DePauw refused to go away, cutting the lead back as close as two points once again at 61-59 with 4:38 on the game clock. Whack hit a big three-point shot from the right wing to push the Wabash lead to five, then added a free throw a minute later to provide a 65-59 advantage with 3:43 left to play. 

Elijah Hales scored two of his 11 points to trim the lead to four points, 65-61. Hales entered the game averaging over 18 points a game but was limited to 11 by the Wabash defense. Whack nailed another three-pointer following Hales' basket, then answered a made DePauw free throw with the driving layup to put the Little Giants in front by eight with just over a minute remaining. Redmond put the final points on the board for Wabash with two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to provide the eight-point victory margin.

Whack shot 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range for the game. He went 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. The Little Giants shot 41.9 percent from the field, hitting 26-of-62 attempts. Wabash made 11-of-32 three-point tries (34.4 percent) and finished 12-of-17 from the free throw line.

Wabash outrebounded DePauw 38-34. The Little Giants grabbed ten offensive boards that created four second-chance points.

How It Happened

After jumping out to a 21-16 advantage, Wabash went on a 7-0 run with 6:24 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Jones, to increase its lead to 28-16. Wabash relied on its three-point shooting in the first period, knocking down six long-range shots to account for 18 of its 37 points.

Wabash kept its lead intact in the second half before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Comer's jumper, to grow the lead to 47-29 with 18:23 to go in the contest. 

Game Notes

» Wabash got double-doubles from both Ahmoni Jones and Sam Comer.

» Wabash found success from three-point land, knocking down 11 treys in the game.

» Wabash never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.

» Wabash tallied 16 total assists in the game. Buccilla led the Little Giants with four assists. Comer, Jones, and Redmond tallied three assists apiece.

» Whack scored all 14 of his points in the second half of the game.

» Wabash posted 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1996-97 and 1997-98 teams accomplished the feat. 

» Wabash will play in the championship game of the NCAC tournament for the fifth time since joining the league. The Little Giants are 1-3 in previous championship appearances. Wabash claimed its first title last season.

» Wabash is 0-3 in conference championship games played in Timken Gymnasium. The Little Giants lost to Wooster 114-91 in the 2000 title contest. Wabash lost 89-72 to Ohio Wesleyan in the 2008 conference championship game at Wooster. The Little Giants' last appearance in the title game at Timken Gymnasium came in 2009 with an 84-72 loss to Wooster.

» Sam Jacobs led DePauw with 20 points. Grant Niego scored 14 points. Ryan Jacobson came off the bench to score 12, and Hales finished with 11.

» DePauw shot 14-of-31 from the field for the game. The Tigers made 4-of-12 three-point attempts and shot 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.

This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.