An Ohio Wesleyan player shoots over the
outstreched hands of junior Bradley Fey on Saturday.
Ohio Wesleyan trumped DePauw 77-86.
SAM CARAVANA/THE DEPAUW
It was senior night at Neal Fieldhouse, but a DePauw University sophomore stole the show and the opponents took the game.
The sophomore was Luke Lattner whose 20 second half points weren’t enough to conquer the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops on Saturday afternoon. The visitors spoiled DePauw’s senior night with an 86-77 win.
“I was able to get to the basket and fortunately was able to finish last night,” Lattner said of his performance.
The loss finalizes DePauw's regular season record at 16-9 with a 9-9 record in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The loss means the tigers will play Wittenberg as the Tigers host Wittenberg University in the quarterfinals of the NCAC tournament on Tuesday evening at Neal Fieldhouse.
“Always crucial to be at home, especially when it is a win and advance type of scenario,” senior Bob Dillon said. “Our crowd has been great all year and I’m sure it’ll be another great environment at the Neal Fieldhouse on Tuesday.”
The Tigers had to wait until Sunday to find out their fate, after Wittenberg’s regular season finale against Hiram College was moved because of weather conditions. The Terriers went on to win that game at Wittenberg by a final score of 55-53 to help the Tigers finish in the top half of the NCAC bracket.
DePauw started Saturday’s game slow and went down 8-2 four minutes into the contest. However, the tigers managed to weather the storm and were able to come back quickly with the help of seniors Frank Patton, Tommy Fernitz and Michael Onuorah who all scored on DePauw’s 7-0 to get back in the game.
The first half was a back and forth battle between the Battling Bishops and the Tigers, which concluded with the Bishops up 33-31 going into the half time recess.
The second half from the Tiger’s perspective was a struggle, however, Luke Lattner was a bright spot for the Tigers. Lattner scored 20 of DePauw’s 46 second half points but it was not enough as the Battling Bishops from Ohio Wesleyan were able to take control.
“Its been a blast to watch,” senior Tommy Fernitz said of Lattner. “Not only can he shoot it well, Luke also has the ability to drive to the basket which makes it very difficult to defend him. Luke is going to be a great player for this program and I can't wait to see him develop even more over these next two years.”
The Bishops were able to finish off the Tigers with the help of Claude Gray and Nick Felhaber. Both Bishops went off for 17 points in the second half as the tigers gave up their most points on the season. The defensive end was a struggle throughout. Whenever the Tigers made a run, the Bishops were able to take control on their offensive end.
“A lot of times you can't do anything but we just got out of position on a lot of drives to the basket which allowed them to get open looks,” Fernitz said. “And with a team like OWU you know they're going to knock those shots down.”
Moving forward despite the loss, the Tigers are confident they can make some noise when they host Wittenberg on Tuesday, a team the Tigers lost to twice in the regular season.
“We are very confident,” Fernitz said. “We feel that we can play with anyone in the country, we just haven't been able to consistently string good performances together. And since the conference tournament is a one and done deal, I really believe in our team because of how well we play with our backs against the wall.”
DePauw’s backs are most certainly against the wall, as their regular season record doesn’t give them a good chance of picking up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. This means the Tigers will have to win the NCAC tournament in order to qualify.
“[It’s] win or go home,” Lattner said. “We have five seniors on the team and we have high expectations still to win the conference tourney, so we are going to go out there this week and hopefully win this thing for our seniors. Send them off on the right note.”
The last time these teams met in the NCAC tournament, Wittenberg bounced DePauw in the semifinals with a 63-61 win.
DePauw will look to put that past them when the teams tip things off at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night.