Rebounding and efficient shooting were the two most pressing areas for improvement going into DePauw's contest against the College of Wooster on Saturday.
In that game, the Tigers shot an even 52 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Scots 30-25, yet still lost in the final minutes, 74-67. Wooster hit 8 of 19 three-point field goals while committing only eight turnovers to DePauw's 12.
"A couple possessions go our way and it's a different outcome," senior Sean Haseley said. "We have to focus on the little things."
DePauw's junior forward Barry Flynn scored 23 points and had eight rebounds. Flynn's dominant play exemplified a potential strategy for head coach Bill Fenlon: Give the ball to Flynn until he can be stopped.
"Wooster gave us a little throwback action [on Saturday] and we were able to give it down on the post to Barry," assistant coach Brian Oilar said. "If they want to give us that again we will be happy to take it."
DePauw has chalked up a variety of offensive lineups all season and last game was no different. The starting five featured senior three-point specialist Ian Rumpp along with quick sophomore point guard Alex Payne, who made his second consecutive start. Junior Kevin Sullivan, Haseley and Flynn round out the new starting lineup.
"We are going to go with the lineup we had the most success with on Saturday," Oilar said. "That lineup gave us a great spark on Saturday and I think we will try to recreate that on Tuesday."
Although DePauw has dropped seven of eight contests to end the year, this youthful DePauw team has shown they can compete with any team in the NCAC.
Wins against Wooster and Wabash earlier in the year were compounded by recent close losses to Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash and Wooster due to a few elements.
"We have to be five percent better on the defensive end," freshman center Tommy Fernitz said. "A little more focus on defense and we can pull any of these games out."
DePauw ended the conference stretch as the seven seed in the upcoming tournament, but a rubber match against Wooster may favor DePauw more so than a contest against first place Wittenberg or third place Ohio Wesleyan.
DePauw will play Wooster for the second time in four days. The Tigers have shown ability to halt the fast-paced guard play used by Wooster to quickly run past opponents.
DePauw's largest struggle was containing Div. III star front man Justin Hallowell who led the Fighting Scots to the National Championship game last season.
Hallowell redeemed himself after only scoring seven points in the opening contest against the Tigers on Jan. 14. Hallowell put up 22 points on four three-point field goals on Saturday, a game removed from having set the record for three-point field goals in NCAC history.
It is clear that DePauw will need to stop Hallowell who has the ability to drive, post up, or shoot long-range.
"A few possessions we over helped on Hallowell [in the last game]," Fernitz said. "He hit a couple killer threes from the top of the three-point line."
Leadership is a key ingredient to finishing the remaining games strongly. That is often provided by Haseley and Rumpp.
"We try to lead by example," Haseley said. "We attempt to set good examples with effort and attitude. I just want to go out there and have fun and if we focus on the little things hopefully this won't be our last game."
DePauw enters the quarterfinals in the 2-12 NCAC Tournament next Tuesday. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. at College of Wooster.