Wabash came away with an ugly 65-63 win at Kenyon on Saturday to give head coach Mac Petty his 400th career victory as a college basketball coach. He becomes the 17th active Division III coach to record 400 career wins.
Petty, in his 29th season as a head coach and his 26th at Wabash, saw his Little Giant squad shoot a paltry 10-of-23 from the free thow line to give Kenyon a chance at the victory. Wabash missed four consecutive free throws in the final minute of the game, allowing Kenyon to cut the Little Giants' lead to two points with :19 remaining. The Wabash defense forced Kenyon into a desperation shot from 18 feet away that fell short, giving Petty his 400th victory.
The Little Giants led 11-2 early in the contest, only to see Kenyon take a 31-28 hafltime lead. Wabash took a six-point lead with nine minutes left in the contest, but free throws and three-pointers gave the Lords a 48-46 lead in the second half. Wabash eventually lead 61-56 with 2:28 left in the contest, but hit only 4-of-9 free throws in the final two minutes to setup the final play of the game.
The scoring battle between three of the top-five players in the North Coast Athletic Conference never materialized. NCAC leading scorer Chad Plotke, averaging 22.2 points per game for Kenyon, was held to nine points. Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian), fourth in the conference at 17.6 points per game, scored 10 points. The fifth-leading scorer in the conference, Brady Claxton (Shelbyville, IN/Shelbyville) scored 13 points to lead the Little Giants. He entered the contest averaging 16.7 points a contest.
Wabash (9-9, 6-4 NCAC) moves to the elusive .500 mark since the second game of the season against Hampden-Sydney. The Little Giants face Ohio Wesleyan in NCAC play on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Chadwick Court.