Preview: Wabash Apaches vs. Northfield Norsemen
Wabash has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Northfield Norsemen at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Wabash focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Wednesday.
Last Wednesday, everything went Wabash's way against Carroll as Wabash made off with a 65-45 victory. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory Wabash has managed all season.
It was another big night for Grant Ford, who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 28 points and 4 assists. The game was his fifth in a row with at least ten points. Izaak Wright was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northfield was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Friday as they fell 45-39 to Eastern. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Northfield in their matchups with Eastern: they've now lost five in a row.
Despite the defeat, Northfield saw an underclassman step up: Ty Leming scored 14 points along with nine rebounds. Those nine rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaden Baer, who scored nine points.
Wabash's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Northfield, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-5.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's contest: Wabash have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 7.8 threes per game. It's a different story for Northfield, though, as they've been averaging only 5.1 threes per game. Given Wabash's sizeable advantage in that area, Northfield will need to find a way to close that gap.
Wabash beat Northfield 53-40 in their previous matchup last Friday. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Northfield's Tyson Baer, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Wabash still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
