Smith shot lights-out in the first half, scoring 20 points as he connected on 6-of-6 shots from the three point arc and was 7-of-8 from the field. The Scots hit 69 percent from the field and 70 percent from behind the arc in the first half to take a 47-34 halftime lead.
Wabash responded in the second stanza. Trailing by 14 points with 13:24 remaining, the Little Giants cut the lead to seven five minutes later on two free throws by junior forward Joe DesJean (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian). Wooster responded with a mini-run to push the lead back to 14 with 2:23 left in the contest.
The Little Giants refused to go away. Wabash put the clamps on Smith in the second half, holding him to three points in 20 minutes. Junior guard Brady Claxton (Shelbyville, IN/Shelbyville) scored 10 of his team-high in the final 1:45 to cut into the Wooster lead. DesJean scored on an inside move to make it a 79-75 contest. But the clock was the biggest ally for the Scots. Claxton's final three cut the the lead to three, but it came with only 1.7 seconds showing on the game clock. The Scots ran out the final second of the contest to advance to the conference championship game on Saturday night.
DesJean finished the game with 24 points and six rebounds. Junior Eric Buck (Indianapolis, IN/Cardinal Ritter) came off the bench to score nine points.
DesJean finished the season as the 17th leading scorer in Wabash College history, totaling 1,029 points in 78 games in a Little Giant uniform. He is seventh in career rebounds with 612 boards, and tied his single-season record with 61 blocks this year. He is 15 short of breaking the school record.
Wabash finishes the season with a 15-11 record. The Little Giants will return their team next season, as Wabash had no seniors on the 2001-20002 squad.