Ohio Wesleyan 51, Wabash 45

Feb. 4, 2009

Freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls) posted a double-double to help Ohio Wesleyan outlast Wabash for a North Coast Athletic Conference win on Wednesday in Crawfordsville, Ind.

The win, combined with Wooster's 89-87 win over Hiram, moved the Bishops into a 3-way tie for first place in the NCAC along with Wooster and Hiram, setting up another first-place showdown on Saturday when Ohio Wesleyan visits Hiram.

Ohio Wesleyan took an early 6-1 lead behind 3 baskets from Pellerite, but Wabash came back with scores from Wes Smith and Ben Burkett to kick off a 12-2 run. Chase Haltom's 3-pointer, another Smith bucket, a free throw by Derek Bailey and a lay-in by Nick Curosh gave the Little Giants a 13-8 lead with 12:07 left in the first half.

The Bishops countered by scoring the next 7 points, courtesy of a pair of Pellerite lay-ins and a 3-pointer from sophomore wing Dillon McBride (Medina) to take a 15-13 lead with 7:10 remaining in the period.

After the Little Giants tied the game at 19-19 with 3:13 left in the half, the Bishops took the lead for good with a jumper by sophomore post Andrew Martin (New Albany) and a lay-in by senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes), and that 23-19 margin was how the first half ended.

Wabash closed to within a basket on 3 occasions early in the second half, but the Bishops responded with a score each time, and on the third occasion, when the Little Giants made it a 29-27 game on Burkett's lay-in with 14:42 to play, Ohio Wesleyan went on a 6-0 run that featured a pair of free throws and a fast-break lay-in by Pellerite and a bucket from senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert), stretching the margin to 35-27 with just over 13 minutes to go.

Smith hit back-to-back lay-ins as the Little Giants cut the deficit to 39-36 with 8:05 to go, but Pellerite converted a 3-point play to end that Wabash threat, and shortly thereafter, a McBride 3-pointer and a layup by junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia) gave the Bishops their biggest lead of the game at 47-38 with 4:08 left in regulation time.

The Little Giants had one more run, with Smith hitting another pair of lay-ins to bring the hosts within 47-43 with :44 left, but junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) went 4-for-4 from the line on the Bishops' next 2 possessions to seal the outcome.

Pellerite led the Bishops with 19 points, going 8-for-9 from the field, and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Gardiner dished out a team-high 3 assists.

Smith led Wabash with 18 points, while Burkett finished with 12 points.

Box Score