HIRAM, OH –- Wabash never trailed in the second half of its North Coast Athletic Conference basketball game at Hiram College Saturday afternoon, securing a 79-73 road victory to extend its winning streak to five consecutive games and 11 victories in its last 13 games.
 
Wabash (12-6, 8-1 NCAC) remained in second place in the conference stranding and are now a half-game behind Denison (16-1, 8-0 NCAC).
 
The Little Giants got a 30-point performance from the bench in addition to a career-high 20 points from junior guard Randy Kelley. Wabash had four players score in double figures, led by Kelley, who had four assists in addition to his 20-point output. Vinny Buccilla added 14 points, Robert Sorensen scored 10 points, and Josh Whack chipped in with 10 points from the bench.
 
Wabash collected 33 rebounds in Saturday's game compared to Hiram's 29, led by Noah Hupmann's 16 boards.
 
How It Happened
After falling behind 26-23, Wabash went on a 10-0 run with 6:39 left in the first half to take a 33-26 lead before taking a 43-28 lead at halftime with a 43-38 advantage. The Little Giants fell behind as many as six points to the Terriers (6-12, 1-8 NCAC) in the first four minutes of the opening half.
 
Wabash expanded its lead to 54-44 before going on another 10-0 run, finished off by Sorensen's layup, to grow the lead to 64-44 with 12:00 to go in the contest. Hiram closed the gap to six points at 76-70 with 1:27 left in the game. The Little Giants made 3 of 6 free throws to hold off the Terriers in the closing minute to secure the victory.
 
The Little Giants shot 47.3 percent from the field, making 26 of 55 field goals. Wabash connected on 7 of 22 three-point tries (31.8 percent) and made 20 of 26 free throws (76.9 percent). Hiram shot 25 of 54 field goal attempts (46.3 percent), including 12 of 25 three-point tries (48 percent). The Terriers made 11 of 16 free throw attempts.
 
Ivan Yang led Hiram with 24 points. Jaden Hameed added 21 points off the bench.
 
Wabash returns to Chadwick Court Wednesday evening with a 7 p.m. conference contest against arch-rival DePauw.
 
Game Notes
» Wabash never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» The Wabash bench scored 30 points.
» Wabash had a 33-29 edge on the boards in the win.
» Randy Kelley led the Little Giants with 20 points.
» Wabash got a game-high 16 rebounds from Noah Hupmann.
 
Parts of this article were created using technology provided by Data Skrive.