Wabash won its fifth straight men's basketball contest and captured sole possession of first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 74-64 road win at Kenyon College Wednesday evening.
 
Wabash (13-8, 9-3) claimed the top spot in the conference standings thanks to its road win combined with a 75-68 road loss by Denison at Oberlin. The Little Giants are a game ahead of Wooster in the win column and own a one-game lead over Wittenberg and Denison after Wittenberg claimed an overtime victory at home against DePauw Wednesday night. Wittenberg and Denison are tied for third place in the conference standings with 8-4 records.
 
Wabash used a 12 to 5 edge in offensive rebounds against Kenyon (5-15, 3-8 NCAC) to outscore the host Owls 16-0 in second-chance points. Wabash held a two-rebound edge overall, 38 to 36, led by Gavin Schippert's eight-rebound effort.
 
Avery Beaver gave Wabash an early 2-0 lead in a game that saw both teams struggle to score early. The two teams played to a 4-4 tie over the first five minutes before Kenyon took its first lead at 7-6 on a three-point basket by Anthony Testa. Sam Comer responded with a turnaround jumper in the lane to return the lead to Wabash. Kenyon tied the score at 10-10 two minutes later.
 
Wabash went on a 6-0 run capped by a basket from Randy Kelley to take a 16-10 lead. Ahmoni Jones gave Wabash its largest lead of the first period with a three-point basket at 19-12 before Kenyon closed the gap to two points at 27-25 with 2:37 remaining in the period. Back-to-back baskets from Kelley stretched the advantage back to six points before the Little Giants settled for a 31-27 cushion at the break.
 
Kenyon closed the lead to two points in the first three minutes of the second half before a three-pointer from Vinny Buccilla, and a layup from Comer stretched the advantage back to seven points. Kelley added another layup off a turnover by the Owls and another three-pointer for a 46-33 Wabash lead with 14:14 left in the contest. Kenyon got as close as five points until Beaver's three-pointer with 9:05 on the clock sparked a 6-0 run to push the lead back to double digits. Wabash maintained its edge throughout the remainder of the period for the ten-point victory.
 
Beaver paced the Wabash offense with 18 points. The senior guard played all but 20 seconds of the contest, going 6-of-13 from the field with three long-range baskets and a 3-for-3 effort from the free throw line. Jones added 15 points, while Kelly and Buccilla chipped 11 points apiece.
 
Gefen Bar-Cohen, the NCAC Offensive Player of the Week, shared game-high honors for the Owls with 15 points. He recorded a double-double with ten rebounds. Testa also scored 15 points, while Charlie Heywood scored 12 points, and Nick Nelson added 11.
 
Wabash shot 23 of 61 from the field (37.7 percent) and made 10 of 26 three-point shots (38.5 percent). Kenyon finished 25 of 55 overall and hit 6 of 16 three-point tries. The Little Giants made 18 free throws compared to only eight for Kenyon.
 
Wabash looks to try to hold its share of the conference lead when the Little Giants travel to Denison on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.