Joseph, who came off the bench in three of the last four games before returning to the starting lineup against the Big Red, was 10-of-17 from the field for the Little Giants, connecting on seven three-pointers while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. His 35 points are the most by Wabash player since Josh Estelle '00 scored 36 against Wooster in 2000. Joseph's seven treys are two shy of Estelle's team record and three away from tying the North Coast Athletic Conference record.
The senior also grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team and had an assist and a steal in 36 minutes of action. Click here to view photos from the win over Denison.
It appeared Joseph and the rest of the starters might not spend much time in the game at the outset. Wabash blistered the nets in the opening seven minutes of the game, taking a 19-2 lead. By no surprise it was Joseph starting the scoring, drilling a three-pointer to score the first points of the game. An Andrew Zimmer turn-around jumper made it a 5-0 game before Dan Hodgkinson scored the first of team-best 23 points to make it a 5-2 game.
The Little Giants would score the next 14 points, including eight from Joseph, to take the 17-point edge. Wabash held the double-digit lead until the Big Red began whittling away at the differential. Brian Gognat cut it to seven points with 6:46 to play in the first half on a layup and a free throw. The Big Red would close the gap to six points before Joseph and Gary Simkus would score seven points in the final three minutes to help Wabash to a 40-28 lead at halftime.
Denison would make two runs in the second half, twice trimming the lead to seven points before the Little Giants pushed it back to double digits. Joseph hit all eight free throws in the final 1:11 of the contest, scoring 11 of the final 12 points for the Little Giants in the last 2:15 of the game. He scored 21 points in the final period, going 5-of-8 from the field.
When Joseph wasn't doing the scoring, it was Simkus providing the points. The sophomore forward finished with 16 points while grabbing five rebounds and handing out three assists. Kyle Medeiros scored 16 points, as well, and had four assists, a steal, and a blocked shot.
Hodgkinson's 23 lead the Big Red in scoring, with Jordan Krantz chipping in with 18 points coming off the bench. Robb Hern added 13 points.
The victory means the Little Giants (13-8, 7-5 NCAC) are guaranteed to be no worse than tied for fourth in the conference standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The top four teams host the opening round of the NCAC Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday evening, February 21. Teams five through eight travel to those home sites. Wabash has played host to an NCAC first round game in five of the six seasons since the Little Giants joined the league. Wabash now owns the tiebreakers with sweep of the two-game season series agaisnt Denison (10-11, 6-6 NCAC). Wabash beat the Big Red 85-73 in Granville, Ohio earlier this year.