LEANN BURKE / THE DEPAUW
This past weekend, DePauw’s men’s basketball team embarked on their yearly trip to face Allegheny College and Hiram College, the two North Coast Athletic Conference schools farthest away from Greencastle.
In total, the team traveled 898 miles but came away with two very important conference wins that move the Tigers into position to qualify for the NCAC tournament coming up at the end of the regular season.
“Of course it is tougher traveling to further locations,” senior Bob Dillon said. “Your tired from the longer bus ride, legs get tighter, but it comes down to the energy the team brings once you get onto the playing floor.”
In order to solidify that position, the Tigers knocked off the Gators of Allegheny 60-56 on Friday night and then turned around and took down the Hiram Terriers 75-61 the following afternoon.
Prior to the trip, however, the road had not been kind to this group of Tigers. The team left Greencastle with an overall road record of 2-5 and was still looking for their first conference win away from Neal Fieldhouse.
Adding to the problems for the Tigers on the trip was the absence of leading scorer, senior Tommy Fernitz. The 6-foot-9 senior missed both games over the weekend leaving him out of the lineup in four straight games as he recovers from an issue with his lymph nodes.
The Tigers missed Ferntiz’s offensive presence on Friday night at Allegheny, as they were held six points under their average. Only one starter scored in double figures and the Tigers shot less than 40 percent from the field.
Two of DePauw’s three leading scorers didn’t start the game, senior Connor Rich and junior Bradley Fey. All of the nine shots that the pair knocked down came from beyond the arc and they scored a combined 23 points.
The Tigers led by 12 in the second half but the Gators got back into the game with 9-0 run. With the score at 44-41, Rich and Fey hit back-to-back threes to reestablish the DePauw lead.
“They go on their runs, we go on ours, and sure enough Connor was able to bang in some big threes and free throws late that helped us end that run, and eventually end up winning the game,” Dillon said.
Following the win over the Gators, DePauw made the trip to Hiram to face the Terriers.
The problems that DePauw’s shooters had on Friday night were swept away as the Tigers shot just under 50 percent from the field.
After going 0-for-6 on Friday, Dillon responded against the Terriers with 18 points and a 67 percent shooting night.
“It's always rewarding to be able to make some shots and I think that is what has made our team so tough is that nobody cares where the points are coming from,” Dillon said. “As long as we win it is rewarding.”
In addition to Dillon, the Tigers got 18 points from senior Michael Onuorah who only had two the previous night.
“I’ve always played aggressive and looked to score and rebound when I can,” Onuorah said. “I’ve been getting bigger minutes recently so naturally my numbers have been a bit bigger. When Tommy gets back I don’t think my numbers will change much.”
The Tigers raced out to an 11 point lead at half and never looked back, going on to defeat the Terriers by 14 points.
DePauw outperformed Hiram in nearly every offensive category: 16-5 in assists, 8-14 in turnovers and 38-24 in points in the paint.
Now at 15-6 overall, and 8-6 in the NCAC, it seems that the Tigers have began to turn a corner as the postseason looms and they should be getting Fernitz back in the near future
“I’m actually going to practice [Monday], so hopefully Wednesday I’ll be back,” Fernitz said.
That could cause a big impact, as the Tigers next take the floor on Wednesday night at home against Wittenberg University, a team looking to catch DePauw for the final spot in the NCAC tournament.