In a critical, late-season game, the DePauw Tigers matched up against the Wittenberg Tigers, who entered having clinched a first place NCAC finish.
Although DePauw battled until the final buzzer, they could not erase a late nine-point deficit and fell 55-56 on a last second jump-shot attempt by senior Sean Haseley.
Wittenberg's physical style and experience with a host of seniors makes them a tough team to beat in the NCAC. DePauw had to focus on post presence Clayton Black, a leading rebounder in the NCAC, to vie for a win.
"We worked all week with the guards coming down to help us on [Black]," junior Barry Flynn said.
The practice paid off as Black totaled just five rebounds on 14 points in the game, but Wittenberg still managed to outpace DePauw on the boards, 40-25, a statistic that has head coach Bill Fenlon worried.
"I thought we did a good job on Black the first game, but where they hurt us was on the boards," Fenlon said. "All of them — they had 16 offensive rebounds to our six in a one-point game. We didn't rebound with them the first time and we didn't rebound with them this time."
In addition to DePauw's struggles on the boards, the Tigers have struggled of late on the offensive side. The team does have talented shooters and scorers, but have failed to find an offensive consistency.
"We have a lot of good shooters on this team," Haseley said. "I think if we take good shots and have confidence, we have good enough shooters where I think things will go up."
However, the Tigers are still lacking in experience. After losing six seniors from last season, DePauw was left with only two this year — a potential cause to the Tigers lack of rebounding and sporadic offensive identity.
"We seem to have some mental lapses that can be patched up easily," assistant coach Nick Caputo said. "Those mistakes occur early and hurt us later in the game."
DePauw will focus their attention on their last regular season opponent, the College of Wooster. DePauw defeated Wooster on Jan. 14 by a tally of 75-66. The win was spurred by effective frontcourt defense and a containment of Justin Hallowell, one of the most effective scorers in Div. III basketball.
"Hallowell is a good perimeter shooter," Fenlon said. "But where we are going to have to beat him is on the boards."
In addition to Hallowell, Wooster features a quick freshman point guard Xavier Martin, a valuable shooter, especially from the mid-range.
"We're going to have our hands full," Haseley said. "But we are going to compete. I think we've proven we can compete with any of the top teams."
DePauw is currently locked with Hiram for a sixth place NCAC finish. In the NCAC tournament, if the standings will remain, DePauw would get the seventh seed and play on the road against Wooster again.
With a win, and a Hiram loss Saturday, DePauw would gain the outright sixth seed and play either Wooster or Ohio Wesleyan University on the road in the first round in the NCAC Tournament.
The Tigers work towards a confidence boosting win and a potential NCAC Tournament run.