Conference still up for grabs heading into important week
The drought ended for Wabash basketball as they stunned Wooster in a double-digit victory at the Fighting Scots home court on Saturday, January 6. This secured the Little Giants the third-place spot in the NCAC, as the conference heads into what may be its most important week yet.
Ahmoni Jones ’24 led the charge for Wabash in spectacular fashion. Coming off a two-game stretch of single-digit scoring, Jones buried four threes and the Wooster defense on his way to a 24-point night. Jones also led the team in rebounding with his eight boards.
Other players like Sam Comer ’24 with 13 points and Rich Brooks ’26 with 16 points came in ready to win, helping assemble 20 points off turnovers and 37 points from the bench, as the Little Giants rallied for their second-highest scoring night of the season to beat Wooster 78-64 and put an end to their five-game losing streak.
“We knew the slump was going to end soon,” said Jones. “And the energy coming into today’s game was great and I think it really showed in our team’s performance.”
Despite two early losses in the conference season, the third-ranked Wabash team is in a strong position to make a grab for the first-place spot, before everything is said and done. The upcoming week eight schedule will have major implications for how the conference running looks moving forward.
The Little Giants have already faced the toughest teams in the NCAC and should have an easy time putting away the bottom two teams in the conference, Ohio Wesleyan and Hiram during week eight. After that, they face fifth-place Oberlin and fourth-place DePauw, two teams Wabash has already beaten this year.
Meanwhile, Wittenberg and Denison will be duking it out for the top spot in the NCAC. This will be the first time these two meet this year. Either way the game goes, Wabash will be in a better spot. But if Wittenberg topples Denison, both teams will be well within striking distance of the Scarlet and White later in the season.
Then the two teams looking to steal Wabash’s spot, Oberlin and DePauw will be pitted against each other. Oberlin is the clear favorite in the contest, as their three NCAC losses have come from Denison, Wittenberg and Wabash, while DePauw has had difficulty beating even the bottom echelon of conference teams. While it may seem strange to want DePauw to win, if they manage to take down Oberlin, Wabash will have a comfortable cushion between them and the fourth-place team moving forward.
Even with their hiccups along the way, the Wabash team is still in the fight for the top spot in the NCAC. At 8-7 (4-2 NCAC) they are a little behind the two top teams but have plenty of time to seize first place. However, they need to stay consistent for the remainder of the season. Unlike in football, the basketball conference has no truly terrible teams. And even the worst members of the conference are almost guaranteed to pull out at least one big upset every year.
Energy and attention are going to be key for the team for the remainder of January, as they have a long wait before they get a second shot at Wittenberg and Denison. Any more losses could prove to be too much to overcome for the conference standings. But for now the Little Giants have overcome a big hurdle and are is just as good a position as any team, for taking home the NCAC crown.
“We are going to continue to play with great energy moving forward,” said Jones. “We have to constantly bring good energy and play for each other to get to where we want to be. Most of all, we just have to continue to have fun with the game we all have chosen to play for the majority of our lives.”