Jones’ Game-winner Leads Wabash Past Ohio Wesleyan 76-75
Ahmoni Jones hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation to bring Wabash to within two points of Ohio Wesleyan, but it was his clutch three to score the game-winning basket to lift the Little Giants to a 76-75 North Coast Athletic Conference home win on Saturday.
Jones hit a running three-pointer with 15 seconds on the clock to bring Wabash (17-4, 10-2 NCAC) to cut the Ohio Wesleyan (14-7, 9-3 NCAC) lead to 74-73. The Little Giants immediately fouled Reece Mitchell, but the Battling Bishops guard hit only one of his two free throw attempts. The Little Giants took the inbound pass after the second free throw attempt and got the ball to Jones. The junior forward fired the long-range jumper just in front of his Wabash teammates on the bench and brought the Chadwick Court crowd to its feet with the sixth lead change of the game.
Ohio Wesleyan got one final chance to steal the victory from Wabash, but Jack Clement’s runner at the free throw line fell short, giving the Little Giants the one-point win and into a tie for first place in the NCAC standings. A victory by Wittenberg in Saturday evening’s conference game at league co-leading Wooster would move Wabash into sole possession of first place with two weeks left in the regular-season schedule.
The win provided a split in the season series between the two teams. Ohio Wesleyan claimed an identical 76-75 victory in Delaware, Ohio, earlier this season to give Wabash one of its two conference losses.
The Little Giants had three players score in double figures, led by Jones, who had 28 points. Vinny Buccilla tacked on 20 points, and Sam Comer chipped in 15 points and six assists.
The Wabash offense was very productive from three-point land, making ten threes on 21 attempts. Jones was the most prolific shooter for the Little Giants, draining four treys in the contest.
How It Happened
Wabash raced out to a 7-0 lead, but Ohio Wesleyan responded and tied the score at 9-9 five minutes into the contest. The Battling Bishops pushed the advantage to five points before a pair of free throws from Josh Whack, and an Avery Beaver three-pointer tied the score at 16-16. Ohio Wesleyan moved back in front by as many as seven points at 25-18 and held a 28-23 advantage with 3:16 remaining in the first half.
Wabash went on an 8-0 run, finishing with a bucket from Comer, to take a 31-28 lead before taking a 33-32 advantage at halftime. Wabash did most of its first-half damage in the paint, scoring 18 of its 33 points close to the basket.
Wabash kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Buccilla’s three, to grow the lead to 56-49 with 10:25 to go in the contest. The Battling Bishops answered with a 16-3 run to take a 65-59 lead at the 4:55 mark of the second half.
Ohio Wesleyan held a seven-point lead with 2:42 remaining when Wabash mounted its final rally. Jones canned his first big three-pointer to draw the Little Giants to within four points with 2:04 on the clock. The Battling Bishops took a 73-67 lead on a pair of Clement free throws before Comer responded with two free throws to bring Wabash to within five points. Comer scored again after a Clement miss at the OWU end of the floor to trim the lead to 73-70 with 29 seconds left on the clock to set up the Jones heroics.
Game Notes
» Wabash shot 27-of-56 from the field (48.2 percent) and went 12-of-17 from the free throw line (70.6 percent).
» The Little Giants shot well from three-point range, knocking down 10-of-21 long-range attempts (47.6 percent). Wabash shot well from three-point range in the second half, hitting seven shots from deep to score 21 of its 43 points.
» Ohio Wesleyan finished 24-of-52 from the field (46.2 percent) and shot 7-of-22 from three-point range (31.8 percent). The Battling Bishops hit 20-of-25 free throw attempts.
» Ahmoni Jones, Vinny Buccilla, and Sam Comer combined to account for 83 percent of the Little Giants points.
» Wabash turned the ball over only five times while dishing out 14 assists. Comer led the Little Giants with six assists.
» Ohio Wesleyan outrebounded the Little Giants 33 to 28. Wabash got a team-high six rebounds from Champ McCorkle.
» Jack Clement led Ohio Wesleyan in scoring with 35 points. Henry Hinkle added 11 points for the Battling Bishops.
Original source can be found here.
