GRANVILLE, Ohio-- Canaan Gebele's pass to Ryan Roberts sailed out of the back of the end zone as time expired, thwarting a furious comeback attempt by the Denison against No. 16 Wabash.  The incompletion gave the Little Giants a 22-14 victory over Denison from Piper Stadium.

If only the Big Red could have the first four minutes back.

On the first play of the game, Gebele was intercepted by Wabash safety Austin Brown, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Drake Christen less than three minutes into the game.

On Denison's third offensive play and the second play of their ensuing drive, Wabash's Brian Parks stripped DU running back Cody Farley and Brown was there for the recovery.  Eight plays and three minutes later, Wabash led 14-0.

Over the next 50 minutes, the game was a virtual stalemate.

Wabash added two field goals from Andrew Tutsie in the second quarter, sending the Little Giants into the second half with a 20-0 lead.

In the first half, Wabash outgained Denison 186-48 while forcing four DU turnovers.

In the second half, Denison's defense responded by forcing punts on Wabash's first three possessions.  The Big Red offense broke through late in the third quarter when Gebele went up top to David Weimar for a 67-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Wabash lead to 20-7.

In the fourth quarter, both defenses put on a clinic over the first 12 minutes.  There were seven total drives to begin the fourth quarter and both teams combined for just 56 yards on 25 offensive plays.  After a 17-yard punt by Wabash with three minutes to play pinned DU on their own 15-yard line, hopes of a comeback looked bleak.

On 2nd and 3 from their own 22, Gebele went deep to Weimar again, this time for 50 yards.  On 3rd and 10 he found him for a 14-yard gain that put the ball on the Wabash 2-yard line.  Gebele finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Davis.

With only 1:18 left in the game, Denison's attempted on-side kick was recovered by Brad Gossett on the Wabash 47-yard line.  DU still had all three timeouts, and the Big Red defense answered the bell again, stuffing the Little Giants on three plays.

Alex Marr's punt with one minute left was downed on the Denison 1-yard line.  Faced with 99 yards and only one timeout, Gebele was sacked in the back of the end zone by Ethan Buresh on second down.  The safety marked the first points scored by the Little Giants since the 6:30 mark in the second quarter.

On Denison's free kick from the 20-yard line, Conor Dunn booted a perfect on-side kick that was recovered by Denison's Weimar after the high first bounce.  That gave Denison the ball on their own 34-yard line with 42 seconds remaining.

Gebele started things off with a 16-yard strike to Charlie Mueller.  They crossed midfield on the very next play after a 14-yard pass from Gebele to Mueller.  From the Wabash 32, Gebele found Ryan Roberts for 15 yards.  With 20 seconds left, Gebele's next three passes were incomplete.  On third down, he was hit on his pass attempt to Weimar and his helmet was knocked off.  College rules mandate that if the helmet comes off during a play, then the player must miss the next play.  Denison avoided the unfortunate situation by calling their final timeout with five seconds remaining.

On 4th and 10 from the Wabash 17, Gebele went to the back of the end zone looking for Roberts, but the Wabash coverage was enough to assure that they escaped Piper Stadium with the 22-14 win.

Gebele was 18-of-44 for 271 yards and two touchdowns as 224 yards passing came in the second half.  Weimar led the way with seven catches for 176 yards and a touchdown.  Farley carried the ball nine times for 40 yards.

Wabash quarterback Connor Rice was 11-of-21 for 94 yards.  Matt Penola was the workhorse as he ran the ball 32 times for 106 yards and one touchdown. Isaac Avant toted the ball nine times for 57 yards.  Marr was kept busy as he matched a season-high with eight punts and a 40.9-yard average.  Four of his punts were downed inside the Denison 20-yard line and he ended with a long of 58 yards.

Five Denison defensive players finished with double-digits in tackles.  Andrew Baird led the way with 15 stops and one tackle for loss.  Anthony Sernus followed with 14 and Brice Winans added 13.  Ryan Zinkula and Hayden Hatten followed with 12 and 10, respectively.

The Big Red defense totaled 106 tackles while Wabash ended with 50.  The disparity was created by the time of possession where the Little Giants nearly doubled up the Big Red, finishing with a 39-21 advantage.

The loss drops Denison to 7-2 on the season, while Wabash improves to 8-1 and remains in the hunt for at least a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.  A win by Denison next week at Kenyon would mark the most victories in a single season since 1986.