When senior Larry Farmer returned to Denison for his fifth year he did it for nights like tonight. On Tuesday evening in Crawfordsville, Ind., Farmer put the team on his back in the second half and helped the Big Red secure its first North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament victory since the 1997-98 season.
When the final horn sounded, fifth-seeded Denison walked off Chadwick Court with a 74-60 win over No. 4 Wabash. The Big Red advance to play top-seeded Wittenberg on Friday night in Springfield, Ohio in the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. or 30 minutes after the first semifinal game between No. 2 Wooster and third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan.
Trailing by nine at the half, the Big Red knew it was going to be a tough road ahead when Derek Bailey knocked down a jumper to give Wabash a 39-26 lead with 15:21 to play in the game.
Not wanting to see his career at Denison end, Farmer became a one-man gang for the next five minutes. On the ensuing DU possession, the senior drained a three that closed the gap to 10 points. After grabbing a defensive rebound, Farmer trimmed the deficit to eight with a dunk on the other end. He then forced the Little Giants into back-to-back turnovers that resulted in another thunderous dunk and a 3-pointer that made it a one-possession game. Following a third-straight Wabash turnover, Farmer drove the lane, scored the bucket and drew the foul. The completion of the old-fashion three-point play tied the contest at 39-39 with 11:42 on the clock.
Just over 20 seconds later, Denison took its first lead of the night when, who else but Farmer, buried another 3-pointer off an assist from fellow senior Mike Garabedian. Farmer capped off his amazing 17-0 run with a free throw that put DU in front 43-39.
After a 5:03 scoring drought, Wabash's Andy Walsh nailed a triple to shrink the Little Giant deficit to one. Leading 45-44, a Garabedian block and rebound helped ignite another impressive 14-5 Big Red run. Junior Jon Akpapunam drained two 3-pointers during this second blitz, while senior Jim Leffew and sophomore Alex Longi each knocked down buckets. Farmer also added his third dunk of the half along with a pair of free throws.
Wabash attempted to claw back into the contest with a pair of Aaron Zinnerman foul shots with 3:43 to play. However, the Big Red engineered a game-clinching 10-0 run that gave DU a 69-51 lead with just under two minutes on the clock. Junior Dimonde Hale scored eight of his 11 second-half points during the span, while Farmer added two tallies.
Farmer scored 23 of his career-high 28 points in the second half. In addition, the senior went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from behind the arc in the second period. Farmer also logged 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals in 33 minutes of action. Also playing a big role was Hale who recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Hale did some serious damage at the charity stripe where he went 9-for-12, including a 7-for-8 performance in the final frame.
One of the keys to Denison's success on Tuesday night was ball protection. After committing an uncharacteristic nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes, the Big Red gave the ball away just three times in the second half. On the flip side, the Little Giants turned the ball over six times in the second period after committing just three in the first. DU also shot an astonishing 67 percent (16-for-24) from the field in the second frame after converting a 39 percent clip in the first stanza.
Head Coach Bob Ghiloni and the Big Red will roll into Springfield on Friday with a 13-13 record, while the Little Giants end their season with an 18-8 mark.