It is hard to imagine the visiting Little Giants being any colder than they were in the first half.  It's also just as hard to imagine them getting any hotter than they were in the second.  Wabash shot 71 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to cap off a 71-65 comeback victory over the Denison Big Red from Livingston Gymnasium.

Wabash would score the first basket of the game on its second possession but the scoreboard would be frozen on the number "2" for the next 11 minutes.  It was a defensive struggle early on but the Big Red began to hit its stride, taking a 24-7 lead with 5:26 to play in the opening stanza.

Over the final five minutes of the half Wabash would set the tone for a much-improved second half by going on a 14-6 run, trimming the Denison halftime lead to nine at 30-21.

In the second half, Wabash would erase Denison's double digit lead in seven minutes when Kasey Oetting knocked down a 3-pointer off a kick-out from Nick Curosh.  That gave the Little Giants its first lead of the game and put an exclamation point on a 19-7 run to open the half. 

On the ensuing possession, Denison's Jon Akpapunam would respond with a 3-pointer, taking the lead back.  With 9:11 to play Austin Hawn's free throws would give Wabash a five point lead.  That quickly materialized into a 10-point lead after an Aaron Zinnerman jumper and a 3-pointer by Hawn.

Now trailing by 10 with 7:57 to go, Denison would respond with a run of its own.  A 3-pointer by Jim Leffew moved the deficit to 57-53 with five minutes to play and another triple by Brett Tiberi cut the lead to one with 3:22 left.

Immediately following the 3-pointer by Tiberi, Mike Garabedian forced a steal on Zinnerman at the top of the key.  Garabedian would get out in front of the defense for a fast break layup at the other end and with 3:02 left Denison was back on top 58-57.

With the game tied 61-61 and two minutes left on the clock, Wabash's Derek Bailey hit the shot of the game, drilling a 3-pointer from the corner.  A turnover by the Big Red followed by a bucket from Nick Curosh with 44 seconds remaining would seal the win for Wabash.

Alex Longi led Denison with 10 points while Leffew, Garabedian, Tiberi, and Akpapunam all scored nine.  Larry Farmer led the way with six rebounds.

Wabash was paced by Zinnerman's 19 points and four assists in 38 minutes.  Hawn came off the bench for 17 points and a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc, while Curosh paced Wabash on the boards with nine.

Wabash outrebounded the Big Red 35-26 and shot 49 percent for the game after shooting just 31 percent in the first half.  Denison connected on 44 percent of its action shots while committing just eight turnovers.

Denison falls to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while Wabash improves to 6-0 and 1-0 in league play.  Denison is off until next Saturday when travel to Kalamazoo for a 4 p.m. tip-off against the Hornets.