The men's basketball team earned a huge conference road win on Tuesday as they defeated Wittenberg University 70-62. The win pushed the DePauw Tigers (15-9, 8-7) into third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with one game remaining in league play.
One of the reasons the team was successful on Tuesday was their success in the possession battle. The team recorded 25 rebounds and only committed nine turnovers.
"They had 17 turnovers and we only had nine, so we were plus in the possession battle," head coach Bill Fenlon said. "That's a really big plus on the road and a big deal in any game."
The game was back-and-forth for much of the first half until the Tigers were able to gain control against Wittenberg. With 3:43, DePauw went on a 10-0 run to lead 32-20 at the half. Senior Kevin Sullivan and junior Pat Haggin were key in the run as they both knocked down three pointers.
DePauw continued its impressive play in the second half as the team went on another 10-4 run to earn its biggest lead of the night, 44-24.
"In stretches we've played really really good basketball," Fenlon said. "The key for us right now is to bottle the good Tigers and try to bring that. If we can bring that, I feel like we can play against anybody."
Turnovers were a huge factor for the Tigers in the victory. DePauw had 19 points off of turnovers compared to Wittenberg's 10.
"I thought we did a really good job of helping each other and we did a good job of squeezing down on their post guys and making them cough it up a little bit," Fenlon said. "I think it was an overall team effort defensively and on the boards."
The team, however, was plagued from the free throw line. The Tigers only shot 46.8%, as they were 13-28 from the line.
"The thing about missing free throws is that it's like pink eye, it's contagious," Fenlon said. "I think that's what happened last night, you know we were a little bit excited, we were trying to close out a big win on the road and everybody had a hand in not shooting it well from the line."
DePauw will host Wooster College on Saturday. Wooster (21-3, 14-1) currently has locked up first place for the NCAC conference tournament.