CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana --- Wabash raced out to a 36-18 halftime lead over Wittenberg University Wednesday evening. The Little Giants defeated the visiting Tigers 72-46 to claim their fourth consecutive victory to keep Wabash in second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings a game back of Denison University.
 
Wabash moves to 11-6 overall and 7-1 in NCAC games. Wittenberg is now 7-10 overall and 3-5 in NCAC contests.
 
The Little Giants trailed 6-2 in the opening minutes of the contest before using a 7-2 run to take a 9-8 lead. Wabash erupted offensively over the next four-and-a=half minutes, outscoring the Tigers 13-2 to take a double-digit lead at 22-10. The Little Giants extended the lead to 17- points with 5:13 remaining in the opening period before taking the 18-point advantage to the locker room with a 36-18 halftime lead.
 
Wabash kept up the offensive onslaught in the opening minutes of the second half, pushing the advantage to 24 points in the first four minutes of the final period. Driving layups by Gavin Schippert and Nate Matelic and a three-pointer from Robert Sorensen pushed the lead to 32 with 11:21 left to play in the contest. The Tigers got no closer than 25 points over the final ten minutes of the contest, with Wabash claiming the 26-point victory, the largest winning margin for the Little Giants since beating Wittenberg 101-73 at Chadwick Court in 2021.
 
The Little Giants made 27 of 57 field goals (47.4 percent) and hit 10 of 25 three-pointers (40 percent). Wabash limited Wittenberg to 7-of-25 shooting in the first half and 18 of 47 for the game (38.3 percent). The Little Giants dominated the boards, outrebounding Wittenberg 39-28, including an 11-6 edge on the offensive glass that led to 15 second-chance Wabash points.
 
Sorensen, back in the lineup after an injury sidelined him for the past four games, led the Little Giants with 14 points. The freshman hit 5 of 9 total shot attempts and went 5 of 9 from three-point range. Vinny Buccilla added 12 points, Matelic scored 11, and Schippert finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Eddie Brown led the Tigers with 12 points and six boards.
 
Wabash remains a game behind Denison (16-1, 8-0 NCAC) in the conference standings after the Big Red picked up a 77-65 win at Wooster Wednesday evening.
 
The Little Giants travel to Hiram on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest to begin the second half of the 2024-2025 NCAC schedule.