Last Sunday, the Tigers traveled south to St. Louis to take on fourth ranked Washington University - St. Louis.
DePauw led by three at halftime, but the Bears' senior guard, Alan Aboona, scored 20 second half points and helped propel Washington University to 71-60 win. Things did, however, get off to a good start for the Tigers. Trailing 14-12 midway through the first half, three pointers by junior Bob Dillon and senior Michael Wilkison put the Tigers on top by three.
With 4:30 to play before halftime, the Tigers stretched their lead to 11. From there on, however, it was the Bears who dominated the half. With the score 31-20 in favor of the Tigers, Washington University buckled down on defense. The Bears did not allow another point for the remainder of the half and cut the DePauw lead to three.
The second half was filled with momentum swings for each squad. Early in the second half, the Bears went on an 11-3 run to retake the lead at 43-39. DePauw fought back with their own 8-0 run to regain an advantage of 47-43.
With almost eight minutes remaining, the Bears put the Tigers away for good. Trailing 52-50, Washington University went on a 12-0 run to seal the deal. The Bears would go on to win by a score of 71-60.
Aboona of the Bears led the way to their second half comeback. Aboona was deadly from the charity stripe, making 13 of his 14 attempts.
Washington University's defense was suffocating in the second half. The Bears held DePauw to only 30 percent shooting in the period, and forced nine turnovers.
The Tigers, usually a quality three point shooting team, were kept under 30 percent shooting from beyond the arc, as the Bears defense was able to lock down the perimeter.
"They played very aggressive defensively in the second half," said Tigers head coach, Bill Fenlon. "That being said, we know one of our strengths is our perimeter shooting, but that night we just didn't make shots."
Despite the difficulty from three point range, sophomore guard Adam Botts, knocked down three of the Tigers' six three pointers in the game.
"He's just a really good shooter and that sort of thing isn't coachable," Fenlon said. "I've seen his confidence improve. He's improved his shot selection and also isn't afraid to put the ball on the floor when he has to."
The loss was the first of the season for DePauw and ended their four game winning streak.
Earlier this year, the DePauw Men's soccer team began the season on an impressive streak as well. For head coach, Brad Hauter, how the players responded to adversity was key.
"No one put their head down, no one panicked, we just went back to work," said coach Hauter. "One thing that exists in champions is how they respond when they are knocked down."
That was the key for the basketball team as they took on the Denison University Big Red on Wednesday night.
After playing 35 minutes of back and forth basketball, the Tigers were able to pull away late, and earn a 66-51 win.
With the difficulties from beyond the arc that DePauw guards had against Washington University, Fenlon wanted to see his guys balance their three-point shooting with some more work inside.
"We were looking for more of a balanced offensive attack," said Fenlon. "A more equal amount of inside and outside shooting."
The two starting forwards, senior Pat Haggin and junior Tommy Fernitz, took this to heart. Fernitz dropped 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Haggin led all scorers with 22 points.
After taking a 30-27 lead into halftime, it was Haggin who paced the Tigers offense in the second half. He was 6-10 shooting, including knocking down all four of his three point attempts. Haggin's 18 second half points accounted for exactly half of the Tigers' second half scoring.
Despite Haggin's play, the score remained tight until with 8:30 remaining, when DePauw began to pull away. Leading 51-47, DePauw would go on and seal the game with a 15-0 run to put away the Big Red.
DePauw saw its shooting percentage rise from 36 percent against Washington University to 46 percent in the game against Dension.
The Tigers will face a team ranked in the top 10 for the third time of seven games on Saturday, as they head to the College of Wooster for another North Coast Athletic Conference matchup.