Wabash came out of the locker room ready to play, taking an early 6-0 lead on baskets by Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) and Brady Claxton (Shelbyville, IN/Shelbyville). Wittenberg got on the scoreboard, running off the next seven points of the game to take a one point lead.
It would be the last time the Tigers would be ahead in the game.
The Little Giants responded to the 7-0 run with a 9-0 of their own to move ahead by nine points. Once again the Tigers rallied, tying the score at 17-17.
It was all Wabash from there, as the Little Giants raced out to a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining in the half. Wabash would lead by as many as 14 points at the half, scoring on a DesJean steal and slam dunk with 14 second left in the half. Wittenberg leading scorer for the season, B.J. Harris, scored the final points of the half on a tip that came just ahead of the first half buzzer to give the Little Giants a 40-28 halftime lead.
Harris, who came into the game averaging 12.8 points per game, was handcuffed by the Wabash defense in the first half. Harris managed on three shots, scoring four points in the opening period. The Little Giants also put pressure on the Tigers in the first half, forcing 12 turnovers by Wittenberg that led to 16 points for Wabash. The Little Giants also handled the press applied by Wittenberg. The Tigers scored four points off of six first-half turnovers.
Wabash increased the lead to 17 points with 3:30 gone in the second half before the Tigers made another run. Wittenberg cut into the Wabash lead, dropping it into single digits at 57-49 with 12:34 left in the game.
The Little Giants never panicked. Wabash never let the Tigers get closer than seven points in the second half. Twice the lead creeped down to seven points in the final five minutes of the game, and twice Wabash responded with points to push the lead back to nine points.
Late in the second half, starting center Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) took over the offensive attack for Wabash. Short scored 12 consecutive points for Wabash, including a three-pointer at the 3:09 mark to put Wabash in front 73-60. The game belonged to Wabash the rest of the way as the Little Giants matched the Tigers point for point in the final minutes of the game to earn the victory.
Turnovers became the key as the Little Giants forced 18 Wittenberg turnovers, scoring 23 points off of the Tigers' miscues. Wabash finished the game with 10 turnovers, its lowest number of turnovers in a game this season. The Little Giants finished with the game with 10 steals, including three from DesJean, three from freshman Jim Sink (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis), and two from junior Kip Chase (Bedford, IN/Bedford North Lawrence).
Claxton led the Little Giants with 21 points, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the field, including two three-pointers. Short added 20 points, the second consecutive game that the pair have scored 20 or more points in a game. DesJean added 17 points and nine rebounds. Harris finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Wittenberg. Rod Emmons and Brian Gratsch both came off the Tigers' bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The win for Wabash was the 399th of Head Coach Mac Petty's career. His 29-year career record stands at 399-309. For Wittenberg, it was the first NCAC regular season loss since last season when the Tigers lost 94-83 to Ohio Wesleyan on Dec. 6, 2000.
Wabash (8-9, 5-4 NCAC) will travel to Kenyon for a 3 p.m. NCAC game on Saturday. Wittenberg (15-3, 8-1) will face the College of Wooster at home on Saturday night.