Wabash dominated the offensive glass, and Avery Beaver picked up a double-double as the Little Giants led from start to finish to defeat Ohio Wesleyan 90-76 Wednesday night at Chadwick Court.
 
The victory, combined with an 83-54 win by the College of Wooster at Hiram, sets up a winner-take-all game Saturday between Wabash (16-8, 12-3 NCAC) for sole possession of the regular season North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball title and the number-one seed in next week's conference tournament.
 
Wabash owned nearly every missed shot in Wednesday evening's game against Ohio Wesleyan (10-14, 7-8 NCAC). The Little Giants outrebounded OWU 44-24 and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points.
 
Beaver was the offensive star for Wabash. The senior scored a career-high 24 points and gave out a career-best ten assists in the victory. He shot 8-of-15 from the floor and made 5-of-10 three-point shots, along with a 3-for-3 night at the free throw line.
 
Wabash took an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes of the contest, forcing the Battling Bishops to call a timeout. The Little Giants increased the lead to 11 points on a three-pointer by Ahmoni Jones with 14:12 left in the first half before an 8-0 run by OWU cut the lead to three points at 19-16 midway through the period.
 
The lead stayed at three points until baskets from Jones and Gavin Schippert stretched the advantage back to seven at 28-21 with 7:22 remaining in the half. Beaver eventually pushed the lead back to double figures with a fast-break layup and subsequent free throw. A jumper from Vinny Buccilla made it a 38-25 contest with four minutes remaining in the first.
 
The Battling Bishops used another run to cut the lead to six points before back-to-back baskets from Sam Comer provided a 41-32 cushion at halftime.
 
Ohio Wesleyan cut the Wabash lead to four points in the first five minutes of the second half, but a three-pointer from Beaver, a put-back basket and free throw from Noah Hupmann, and a driving layup by Randy Kelley helped stretch the lead back to 12 points. Ohio Wesleyan got as close as seven points midway through the final period, but a 12-6 run capped by a three-pointer from Beaver put Wabash back in front by 13 points with 7:20 left to play.
 
Wabash took its largest lead of the game at 79-62 with 4:51 left on the clock on the way to the 14-point victory.
 
Jones finished with 21 points for Wabash and grabbed eight rebounds. Schippert added ten points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Buccilla finished with 11 points and eight boards. Comer added eight points and seven rebounds. Hupmann scored eight points and had five rebounds, with four coming on the offensive end of the floor.
 
The Little Giants shot 50 percent from the field (33 of 66) and hit 11 of 30 three-point shots (36.7 percent) after hitting just five three-pointers in a loss earlier this season at Ohio Wesleyan. The Battling Bishops connected on 31 of 64 shots from the field (48.4 percent) and made 10 of 26 three-point tries (38.5 percent). Wabash outrebounded OWU 44-24 and limited the Battling Bishops to eight offensive boards.
 
Henry Hinkle led Ohio Wesleyan with 16 points. Jessee Battle scored 13 points. David Rice had 12 points, and Tony Carter added 10 points.
 
Wabash and Wooster meet in the regular-season finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Chadwick Court. The two teams played for the regular-season title last year, with the Scots winning at home on a last-second three-pointer. Wabash avenged the loss in the conference tournament championship game to win its second consecutive title and trip to the NCAA Tournament.