Senior center Tommy Fernitz reaches for the ball during the tip-off of the game
against the College of Wooster Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers lost with a final score of 76-63.
CHRISTA SCHROEDEL / THE DEPAUW
The poor defense that cost the Tigers a win on Wednesday at Denison University doomed them again on Saturday, as they dropped a 76-63 decision to The College of Wooster (4-2, 1-1) Saturday afternoon.
The Fighting Scots shot over 50 percent from the floor and never trailed in front of a crowd of 325 at Neal Fieldhouse.
“Anytime a team is shooting 50 percent against you then that’s a sign you’re probably doing something wrong,” senior Tommy Fernitz said. “But we have to tip our hats to Wooster for finding the open guy and hitting their open looks.”
While their counterparts found success shooting the ball, the Tigers struggled once again to find their rhythm. DePauw shot just over 35 percent, a total that is their second worst on the season.
In particular, it was the starters that couldn’t get anything going for the Tigers. Senior Adam Botts and sophomore Luke Lattner were a combined three of 14 for 11 points while senior Bob Dillon went 0-8 and scored only one point.
“A few guys are in slumps,” Dillon said. “Sometimes the outside shooting isn’t going for us, and we need to focus on getting the ball inside and getting to the free throw line. We’ll be ready to go next time out.”
The Fighting Scots opened the game on an 8-2 run and led for the majority of the first half. Senior Frank Patton III hit a three pointer with about eight minutes to play in the half that tied the game at 23; however, the Tigers were never able to take the lead.
Wooster pulled away at the end of the first half, taking advantage with Fernitz on the bench after the center picked up two early fouls.
Fernitz came back strong in the second half scoring 16 of his game-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes of play. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Fighting Scots closed the game on 14-6 run and went on to win by 13 points.
“We can’t expect to win letting a team shoot 51 percent when we only shot five for 25 from three and turn the ball over 14 times,” Patton III said. “We have to be better defensively.”
Outside shooting was a disaster for the Tigers in the second half, as they went 0-10 from beyond the arc and failed to shoot much better from inside.
“Can’t shoot much worse at this point,” Dillon said.
For the Tigers, an 0-2 conference record is a tough place to find themselves, but there is still time to turn things around.
“It definitely isn’t the start we were looking for, but it’s a long season, and we’re just focused on one game at a time and trying to get better every day,” Fernitz said.
Fernitz led all scorers with 18 points and added five rebounds all while playing only 22 minutes. Patton also pitched in, scoring 12.
Now it’s time to move on and focus on the road ahead which includes dates with Earlham College and North Coast Athletic Conference rival Oberlin College before winter break.
“[We have to] get back to the little things and the finer details of what it takes to win games,” Dillon said about head coach Bill Fenlon’s message to the team after the game. “Being better teammates, taking better reps in practice and holding each other accountable day in and day out.”
The Tigers will look to correct some of those mistakes in practice before they host Earlham on Wednesday at Neal Fieldhouse with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.. The Tigers will then wrap up their play before winter break with a road tilt at Oberlin next Saturday afternoon.