LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY  – Sophomore guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland) scored a season and game-high 20  points but the Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball fell to No.14-ranked (D3hoops.com national poll) Wabash (Ind.) College, 63-61, tonight (Tuesday, December 20, 2011) in the first game of the Transylvania  University Don Lane Tournament.  B-W now is 1-1 on the season versus top 25-ranked teams.

With the loss,  the Yellow Jackets dropped their record to 6-3 overall and will play the loser of the Hendrix (Ark.) College and host Transylvania game in the consolation game tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m.   The Little Giants remain perfect on the season and improved to 9-0 overall and will play in the championship game tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.

In addition to Fairhurst for the B-W,  sophomore All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored 12 points and junior guard Ben Umbel (Poland/Seminary) added 10 points and grabbed a game-high tying seven rebounds. Wabash was led by senior forward Nick Curosh with 11 points and senior guard Aaron Zinnerman contributed 10.

After almost four minutes of scoreless action, the Little Giants scored the first basket of the game on layup by senior guard Brian Shelbourne at the 16:20 mark.

Fairhurst would lead a 6-0 run by B-W as he canned two three-pointers to give the Yellow Jackets an early four point lead, 6-2, at 14:33. After a an exchange of baskets, B-W would go on an 8-0 run that was capped by a steal and fast break layup by Umbel to take a 16-6 lead with 9:30.  

Following a hook shot by sophomore forward Aaron Selmek (Delaware/Columbus St. Francis DeSales) at the 8:30 mark, Wabash would outscore the Yellow Jackets 14-3 over the remainder of the half to take a 22-21 lead into the intermission on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Andy Walsh at the 25 second mark.

Sophomore forward Tyler Ferrell (Brunswick) started off the second half with a layup to put B-W up 23-22 with 19:00 left in the game. The Yellow Jackets had their biggest lead of the second half, 32-25, after a 9-2 run that was capped by a layup by Payne at the 16:00 mark.

Wabash used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one point, 34-33, at the 13:08 mark on a layup by freshman guard Kasey Oetting. The Little Giants took the lead,46-45, on a layup by Zinnerman at the 7:50 mark.

The two teams battled back and forth until 15 seconds remaining when Derek Bailey split a pair of free throws to put Wabash up 63-61. The Yellow Jackets had a chance to force overtime but a shot by Payne fell short as time expired.

Following tomorrow's game, B-W will next play host to Alma (Mich.) College on Friday, December 30 in the Ursprung Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.  The Yellow Jackets return to Ohio Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, January 4 when they will travel to University Heights to take on Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.