Wabash Battles Past Anderson with Hot Shooting

Wabash College battled past the Anderson University men's basketball team with a 96-84 win on Tuesday in Crawfordsville.

The Little Giants (8-3) utilized their shooting by converting 36-of-56 (64.3 percent) from the field. Jack Davidson led Wabash with 33 points while Tyler Watson contributed 25 points. Maurice Knight led the Ravens (7-3) with 25 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Each of the first three possessions led to baskets as Wabash started with a 4-2 lead. Knight then drained a 3-pointer to put Anderson ahead 5-4.
• The Little Giants then sparked a 10-0 run to take a 14-5 lead with 15 minutes, 53 seconds left in the first half.
• The Ravens scored on three consecutive possessions to cut their deficit to 14-11. Watson hit a 3-pointer to put Wabash ahead by six, but 3-pointers from Fred Shropshire and Knight allowed Anderson to even the game at 17-all.
• Anderson hung with Wabash for the majority of the first half. The Little Giants put together a 14-2 run to take a 52-37 lead with 1:09 left in the half. Davidson and Watson provided each of the points during the run.
• Alex Hunt and Austin Lyons each hit a pair of free throws, trimming Anderson's deficit to 52-41 by halftime.
• Anderson continued to chip away in the half, bringing the Ravens within seven, by a score of 54-47 with 17:56 to go, following a Jordan Gadis layup.
• On the next set of possessions, Davidson and Gadis traded 3-pointers.
• Wabash's biggest lead came with 5:45 remaining, holding an 88-69 advantage.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Wabash knocked down 36-of-56 (64.3 percent) shots from the field while Anderson hit 29-of-63 (46.0 percent) shots from the floor.
• The Little Giants sank 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) attempts from 3-point range while the Ravens made 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) shots from the perimeter.
• Maurice Knight led the Ravens with 25 points and four assists.
• Jordan Gadis and Fred Shropshire tallied 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
• Francis Uzorh notched team-highs of eight rebounds and three blocks.

COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• We played hard, but just didn't execute well enough to win. We hung around and hung around, but didn't slow them down consistently enough to give ourselves a chance.
• Wabash is a terrific team. Jack Davidson gets a lot of recognition, but he's not a one-man show by any means. They start five talented offensive players and bring a couple more off the bench. They give you no margin for error defensively. We made a few too many mistakes at that end and they made us pay for all of them.
• I am disappointed with the loss, but not at all discouraged. To beat a team as good as Wabash is - especially on the road - you've got to play really well. Big picture, I'm excited with where our team stands right now. We've still got a lot of runway to keep getting better.

UP NEXT

Anderson, which is 2-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play, returns to action on Jan. 1 with an HCAC matchup with Bluffton University (2-6, 0-3) at 3 p.m. in Bluffton, Ohio.