Wabash 67, Ohio Wesleyan 62

Jan. 16, 2008

Junior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) and senior guard Casey Teeters (Westerville/Columbus St. Charles) scored 5 points apiece as Ohio Wesleyan pared a 10-point second-half deficit to 3, but Wabash held off the Bishop rally and took a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday in Crawfordsville, Ind.

With the Bishops trailing, 60-50, with 2:36 left in regulation time, Holliday sandwiched a 3-pointer and a lay-in around a pair of free throws by Wabash's Chase Haltom. Teeters followed with a 3-pointer that brought the Bishops within 62-58 with :41 remaining, and the Bishop defense rose to the occasion by forcing Wabash into a 10-second turnover.

The Little Giant defense returned the favor, however, with Aaron Brock blocking a jumper by senior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) on Ohio Wesleyan's ensuing possession.

Forced to foul, the Bishops traded 3 free throws for lay-ins by Teeters and senior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North) to come within 65-62 with :04 left. Wabash was able to get the ball in bounds, though, and Andrew Zimmer sank a pair of free throws to ice the game.

Wabash had taken an early 10-4 lead as Brock and Wesley Smith contributed 4 points apiece, but the Bishops wiped out that deficit with a Teeters 3-pointer and a Cafarella 3-point play, tying the game at 10-10.

Neither team would lead by more than 3 points during the rest of the half, which ended with the Bishops leading 28-26 on Cafarella's late 3-pointer.

The back-and-forth play continued for the first 12 minutes of the second half, with each team taking a 3-point lead before another Cafarella 3-pointer tied the score at 46-46 with 7:56 to play before a Brock tip-in and a Smith 3-pointer gave the Little Giants a 51-47 lead.

Cafarella answered with a 3-pointer to make it 51-50 with 5:29 remaining, but Wabash scored the next 9 points on a tip-in by Brian Maloney, a pair of Brock free throws, a Haltom lay-in and a Zimmer 3-point play that gave Wabash its 60-50 lead.

Cafarella led the Bishops with 17 points. Senior post Jesse Jean (Alexandria, Va./Hyde (Conn.) School) added 13 points and Teeters finished with 10 points. Holliday and Rudegeair shared the Bishop lead with 5 rebounds apiece and junior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) led the Bishops with 3 assists.

Brock led the balanced Wabash offense with 12 points. Gary Simkus, Zimmer and Haltom finished with 11 points apiece and Smith added 10 points. Zimmer led all players with 10 rebounds and Earl Rooks was credited with 6 assists.

Box Score