It wasn’t anything that this program was accustomed to. Ending with a season record of 8-17, the men’s basketball team had not seen a record percentage lower since the 1980-81 season.
The men ended their season on the road on Feb. 20 against Ohio Wesleyan. They lost by a score of 57-81.
“We definitely aren’t happy with the win-loss column,” said sophomore guard David Vogel. “But we learned a lot...for next year.”
After winning the North Coast Atlantic Conference tournament and making a run in the NCAA tournament last season, the men finished ninth in the NCAC this season with a record of 4-14.
“This season had a lot of negatives to it, but the greatest thing about it is you can see that it already has guys motivated for next year,” said sophomore guard Mason Hankins.
Although a losing season was not a familiar feeling for the Tigers, the team was able to gain something from all of the adversity that they were faced with: experience. Since the season ended, the men have already started reflecting on the takeaways rather than the criticisms.
“We had a tough season, and it just taught us that we need to be stronger as a unit and work harder than the other teams in the league in order to compete,” said junior guard Luke Lattner.
Amidst their struggle for consistency, the team was still able to secure a handful of significant wins.
The Tigers traveled to Tampa Bay, Fla. at the end of December for the annual Tampa Bay Shootout. After defeating the Coast Guard Academy and Buena Vista University, the team was able to take home the first place trophy for the ninth consecutive year.
Another highlighted win of the season was the triple overtime thriller against Wabash College.
Claiming revenge over their defeat by the Little Giants earlier in the season, DePauw made use of their home court advantage. With a roaring crowd supporting the Tigers through all three overtime periods, the men were able to defeat Wabash by a score of 114-110.
This marked many of the players’ favorite moment of the season, including Lattner’s. He scored a record-breaking 55 points on the game.
“Although it was a special night for me personally, our team fought and my teammates played their best basketball against our bitter rival,” Lattner said.
Vogel agreed.
“I don't think I'll experience anything like that again.”
While head coach Bill Fenlon is expecting to bring in a strong class next year, the team will be graduating senior guards Adam Botts and Bradley Fey and forward Mark Johnson.
These men have played an integral role in the program, posting an overall winning career record of 63-45.
“I loved all of the dudes I played with for four years," Fey said. "I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys. They made coming into work everyday worth it."
Now entering the offseason, the Tigers are planning to start back up with open gym sessions later this semester in hopes of improving their game for next fall.
The team seems to have a good handle on the areas that need improvement.
“You can expect us to be a more experienced team that will learn from what happened this year and make sure things like that don't happen again,” Lattner said. “We are going to get back to where we expect to be and where we have been in the past and that is competing for an NCAC title.”