DPU men win big win at Wittenberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The DePauw men's basketball team scored the final 10 points of the first half and opened the second half with a 12-4 run on the way to a 70-62 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Wittenberg.

With the win DePauw improved to 15-9 overall and 8-7 in NCAC play, while Wittenberg dropped to the same marks of 15-9 and 8-7. The victory was also the Tigers' first in five tries in Springfield and puts the Tigers in a three-way tie for third in the NCAC standings with Wittenberg and Kenyon.

DePauw shot 59.1 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes to Wittenberg's 33.3 percent, while the visiting Tigers knocked in 5-10 three-pointers and the hosts missed all seven long-range attempts.

Wittenberg held an early four-point lead, but Pat Haggin hit a pair of three-pointers which wrapped around a couple of Camron Burns layups to give DePauw a 17-11 lead which it would not relinquish.

The hosts closed the margin to two, but DePauw scored the final 10 of the half with Haggin's three with 37 seconds left sending the Tigers to the locker room with a 32-20 lead.

DePauw opened the game up in the early stages of the second half when Barry Flynn's layup with 14:11 left capped a 6-0 run and gave the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 44-24.

Wittenberg closed to within 10 on a couple of occasions before DePauw extended the lead to 16 with 4:38 left. An 8-0 Wittenberg stretch capped by three-pointers from Alex Fultz and Zack Leahy, made it an eight-point game with 2:44 remaining, but the Tigers were able to hold on in the closing minutes.

Flynn paced DePauw with 16 points and five rebounds, while Kevin Sullivan added 11 points and Michael Wilkison 10. Haggin paced the squad with four assists.

Leahy led all scorers with 20 points followed by Scott Masin with 14 and Cam Walton with 12 and a game-high nine boards.

DePauw shot 53.2 percent for the game, while Wittenberg hit 51.2 percent after shooting 65.2 percent in the second half. The hosts also held a 28-25 edge on the boards.

The Tigers host ninth-ranked Wooster at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

At Pam Evans Smith Arena; Springfield, Ohio

DePauw 32 38 -- 70

Wittenberg 20 42 -- 62

Scoring

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY (15-9, 8-7 NCAC): Barry Flynn 7-10 2-6 16; Kevin Sullivan 2-2 6-11 11; Michael Wilkison 3-7

3-6 10; Pat Haggin 3-6 0-0 9; Tommy Fernitz 4-6 0-0 8; Connor Rich 2-6 0-0 6; Adam Botts 2-4 0-0 4; Camron Burns 2-3 0-0 4; Frank Patton III 0-1 2-5 2; Alex Payne 0-2 0-0 0; Jeff Sustarsic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 13-28 70.

WITTENBERG UNIV. (15-9, 8-7 NCAC): Zack Leahy 6-10 7-9 20; Scott Masin 5-7 4-4 14; Cam Walton 4-7 0-0 12; Sam Collins 4-5 1-1 9; Alex Fultz 1-5 0-0 3; Steven Newell 0-4 2-3 2; John Albertson 1-1 0-0 2; Cole Bond 0-1 0-0 0; Logan Markko 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Syroka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 14-17 62.

3-point goals--DePauw University 7-17 (Pat Haggin 3-5; Connor Rich 2-6; Kevin Sullivan 1-1; Michael Wilkison 1-4; Adam Botts 0-1), Wittenberg Univ. 6-17 (Cam Walton 4-6; Alex Fultz 1-4; Zack Leahy 1-3; Steven Newell 0-3;

Cole Bond 0-1). Fouled out--DePauw University-Barry Flynn, Wittenberg Univ.-Alex Fultz. Rebounds--DePauw University 25 (Barry Flynn 5), Wittenberg Univ. 28 (Cam Walton 9). Assists--DePauw University 14 (Pat Haggin 4),

Wittenberg Univ. 12 (Cam Walton 3; Steven Newell 3). Total fouls--DePauw University 17, Wittenberg Univ. 23. Technical fouls--DePauw University-None, Wittenberg Univ.-None.