LEXINGTON, Kentucky --- Wabash held Albion to three points over the final 7-1/2 minutes of Saturday's second game of the 2024 Don Lane Classic to earn a 73-51 win to advance to Sunday's championship game against the host Transylvania University at the Clive M. Beck Center.
 
Wabash improved to 5-4 with the victory, while Albion dropped to 4-4. Vinny Buccilla was named the Don Lane Player of the Game after leading the Little Giants with a career-high 23 points.
 
Wabash held a 15-point lead at 62-47 with 7:32 left in the game when Albion got a free throw from Nate Delaney. The Little Giants held Albion scoreless for the next 5:46 and raced out to a 73-48 lead.
 
Buccilla was one of four Wabash players to score in double figures. Noah Hupmann, Josh Whack, and Rich Brooks tallied ten points apiece in the win. Hupmann grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and rejected three shots in the victory.
 
Wabash took a 4-3 lead on back-to-back baskets by Whack in the opening two minutes of the game. The Little Giants got a three-pointer from Buccilla, one of six triples by the senior guard in the contest. Albion eventually took a one-point lead on a three-pointer from AJ Barden to put the Britons in front  8-7 at the 15:46 mark of the first half. Hupmann put Wabash back in front with a dunk, sparking a 7-0 Little Giants run. Hupmann added another dunk off an offensive rebound ahead of a three-point play on a basket and free throw from Buccilla to put Wabash up 14-8. Albion closed the advantage to four points on three separate occasions in the first half, the last coming at 26-22 with 4:08 left in the half.
 
Whack responded with a driving layup and a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight points. Robert Sorensen answered a two-point basket by Albion with a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining in the period. The Britons scored one final time in the half before Whack provided the final basket of the period to send the teams to the locker rooms at halftime, with Wabash holding a 35-26 lead.
 
Wabash extended its lead to 15 points to pen the final period of play with back-to-back three-pointers from Brooks. The junior scored all ten points in the second half, going 4-of-7 from the field, including a 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc. The Little Giants were impressive from deep over the final 20 minutes, pouring in 12 threes on 30 attempts.
 
Albion got as close as nine points at 41-32 with 15:42 left in the game, but a trio of three-pointers from Buccilla and another dunk by Hupmann pushed the lead to 17 points. The Britons made one last run, drawing as close as 11 points, but this time Keegan Manowitz connected on a pair of long-range threes to put Wabash back in front 62-44 with 8:32 remaining in the game. Albion hit a final three-pointer ahead of the Delaney free throw before the shutdown defensive effort by the Little Giants over the final 7-1/2 minutes of the game.
 
Wabash finished 26 of 58 from the field for 44.8 percent shooting, making 12-of-30 three-point tries (40 percent). The Little Giants forced 13 Albion turnovers and scored 15 points off the Britons' errors. Wabash only turned the ball over four times and held Albion to 20-of-53 shooting for 37.7 percent. The Britons made 5-of-18 three-point attempts for 27.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
 
The Little Giants face Transylvania in the championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Pioneers defeated Mary Hardin-Baylor 70-63.
 
Game Notes
» The Little Giants shot well from three-point range, knocking down 12 of 30 long-range attempts. Wabash shot well from three-point range in the second half, hitting seven shots from deep to score 21 of its 38 points.
» The Little Giants held the Britons to only 37.7 percent shooting from the field.
» Wabash recorded 16 total assists in the game.
» The Wabash defense forced 13 turnovers.
» Wabash turned the ball over only four times while dishing out 16 assists.