Wabash captured the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball championship for the second straight season with an 81-80 win over Wooster Saturday afternoon in Timken Gymnasium. The Little Giants earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament which begins next week.
Tournament MVP
Ahmoni Jones hit a turnaround jumper with 10 seconds left in the game to put Wabash (21-7) in front by one point after Wooster (21-6) hit two free throws with 21 seconds left on the clock.
Wooster got one final shot for the win. Jamir Billings, who shined throughout for the Scots and led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting from three-point range, could not get the final shot of the game to drop. Wabash successfully inbounded the basketball to run off the final second to claim back-to-back titles after capturing the program's first NCAC championship in 2022. The one-point victory came exactly seven days after the Little Giants lost a 75-74 contest at Wooster.Â
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The NCAA selection show will be broadcast on Monday, February 27, at 1 p.m. at
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The Little Giants had four players score in double figures, led by Gavin Schippert, who had 17 points. Schippert connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts to help Wabash finish 11-of-23 from behind the arc for the game. Jones added 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, and Edreece Redmond helped out with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Wabash defense forced 13 Wooster turnovers that ended in 23 points on the offensive end of the floor. Jones' three steals led the way individually for the Little Giants.
How It Happened
Wabash started the scoring by going on a 9-0 run, culminating in a three from Vinny Buccilla, to take an early lead with 18:12 left in the first half. The Little Giants raced out to a 17-point lead at 24-17 with 8:24 left in the first half, only to see Wooster cut the advantage all the way back to two points (44-42) with less than a minute remaining in the half. The Little Giants scored the final points of the period to take a 48-42 lead at the break.Â
Wooster trimmed the lead to one point before tying the score at 50-50 two minutes into the final period. The two teams traded the lead 12 times and tied eight times, including five ties or lead changes in the final 1:14 of the game.
Game Notes
» Ahmoni Jones' shot with 10 seconds left put Wabash ahead for good.
» The Little Giants shot well from three-point range, knocking down 11 of 23 long-range attempts (47.8 percent). Wabash shot 26-of-51 from the field for 51 percent after blistering the nets for 16-of-26 shooting in the opening period (61.54 percent). Wabash made 18-of-21 free throws for 85.7 percent.
» Gavin Schippert led the Little Giants with 17 points.
» Wabash got a game-high eight rebounds from Edreece Redmond.
» Wooster shot 23-of-49 from the field (46.9 percent) and 14-of-28 from three-point range (50 percent). The Scots hit 20-of-26 free throw attempts (76.9 percent).
» Billings led Wooster with 30 points while setting a school record with ten made three-point shots. Nick Everett added 19 points and Elijah Meredith scored 10 points.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
