CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (February 25, 2022) – No. 5-seeded Denison University's run in the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament came to an end in the semifinals with a 98-74 loss at the hands of top-seeded and No. 16 nationally-ranked Wabash College on Friday night on Chadwick Court.

The Little Giants entered the game scoring 101 points their last time out in their quarterfinal win over Hiram College, and had scored 90 or more points in six of their eight games since last defeating Denison 86-63 at home on January 29.

Denison shot 46.3 percent (31-67) from the field and was 7-for-25 (28 percent) from three for the game, but Wabash shot 55.6 percent (35-63) overall and made 11 of its 21 3-point shots for a percentage of 52.4 percent. Six of those 3-point makes for the Little Giants came off the hands of Jack Davidson, who finished with a game-high 32 points.

Denison was led in scoring by junior Will Hunter with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field while senior Freeman Brou finished with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Freshman Tyler Miller added 11 points while fellow-freshman Ricky Radtke led the Big Red on the boards with 10.

After a layup by Miller made it 9-8 Big Red, the fifth lead change of the first four and a half minutes of the game started a 13-2 Wabash run over three and a half minutes to lead it 21-11. The Little Giants started the game 5-for-6 from 3-point range to that point, including 4-for-4 shooting from three by Davidson.

Yet another 3-pointer by Davidson, his fifth and his team's seventh of the first 11 and a half minutes of the game, made it a 13-point game (31-18) with 8:35 left in the first half.

Back-to-back layups by Hunter helped Denison cut its deficit down to nine points at 35-26 with five and a half minutes left before the break.

Then with only 1:27 left in the half, Darren Rubin connected on a deep three to get the Big Red to within seven at 42-35.

However, it was back to an 11-point lead (46-35) for Wabash at the break after both teams shot exactly 50 percent from the field. The biggest difference contributing to the scoring margin was Denison's 2-for-10 (20 percent) mark from 3-pont range compared to 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) shooting from three for the home team.

It was still an 11-point game six minutes into the second half after a jumper by Radtke made it 61-50, Unfortunately, the sixth 3-pointer of the game by Davidson, who finished 6-for-7 from three, followed by three straight free throws by Davidson came in the middle of a 10-0 Little Giants' run that made it a 21-point Wabash lead at 71-50 with 11:38 to go.

A 12-4 Big Red run starting on a jumper by Hunter and ending with a 3-pointer by Rubin made it a 13-point margin at 85-72 with 3:44 left to play, but that was the closest Denison would get.

In all for the second half, Wabash shot 61.29 percent (19-31) from the field and was 10-for-11 (90.91 percent) from the free throw line.

After entering the game with seven wins in its last eight outings, Denison's season comes to an end with a record of 13-13. This was the Big Red's fifth NCAC semifinals appearance in the last six seasons. Wabash (23-3), meanwhile, advances to play No. 2-seeded Wooster in Saturday's championship game at 4 p.m. The win was also the 19th win in a row for the Little Giants, matching the team's program record set back in 1982 when they won the national championship.