DePauw's Luke Lattner(center) plays defense as Wabash passes
the ball around on offense. Wabash trumped rival
DePauw 72-62 on Wednesday night in Crawforsville.
NETTIE FINN/ THE DEPAUW
In a rivalry that is long standing, The DePauw University Tigers fell to the Wabash Little Giants 62-72 Wednesday night in Crawfordsville. Despite the home court advantage, DePauw had a healthy student section, but Wabash’s superb shooting performance (52.2 percent) and their rebounding efforts allowed them to get the crucial late season conference win.
DePauw dropped to 16-8 overall and 9-8 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. Wabash improved to 11-6 in conference play, and clinched the third seed in next week’s NCAC tournament. If DePauw wants to host a game in the conference tournament they need a win against conference champion Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday. If the Tigers are unable to win then it will be up to Hiram to defeat Wittenberg and move the Tigers up in the conference standings.
The Tigers got off to a hot start and jumped out to a 17-11 lead. Wabash rallied to tie the game up at 22. Wabash continued hitting seven straight baskets. The score at half was 31-28, Wabash.
Wabash made 12 of their first 14 shots to start the half and give themselves a 43-32 lead with 16:21 remaining. The Tigers were unable to keep it close as Wabash made nine of their last 10 free throws in the final minute and a half.
DePauw shot 41.3 percent from the field while Wabash shot a far superior 52.2 percent.
If the Tigers want to host a conference tournament game they must beat Ohio Wesleyan.
A loss like this is a crucial mistake late in the season, as the Tigers have no games to give. They put themselves in a tough position by having to defeat Ohio Weslyean Saturday if they want to achieve their goal of hosting a game.
Luke Lattner spoke about the importance of rebounding against Ohio Wesleyan, “There’s got to be a big focus on rebounding this Saturday as well. We got killed on the glass against Wabash and if that happens against a talented team like Ohio Wesleyan we aren’t going to win.” The Tigers were out rebounded by 26 Wednesday against Wabash.
They benefit from Tommy Fernitz returning to the court after being sick for multiple games. Fernitz had a good showing against Wabash dropping 5 assists and grabbing 4 boards. “The biggest thing was just getting my strength back and the stamia I had earlier in the year. With each game and practice I feel like I’m slowly getting back to that point."
The Tigers can capitalize on a victory on Saturday in order to give themselves a competitive edge in the conference tournament.
Clint Cunningham expressed his optimism for the post season, “We have played a lot of close games lately both at home and on the road and so we know that if we can just do one or two things better we can go on a deep run in the conference tourney and compete for a championship.”
The Tigers play at Neal Fieldhouse, Saturday at 3 pm.