Wilkison leads DPU to win at Wabash

Thursday, January 23, 2014

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- The Tigers men's basketball team traveled north to take on their conference rivals Wednesday night. When it was all said and done DePauw was able to battle back and defeat the Little Giants by a final score of 70-60.

With the victory the Tigers improved to 12-4 on the season and 7-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Wabash fell to 4-11 and 3-6 in NCAC play.

Wabash took control of the contest early opening play on a 14-6 run over the first seven minutes. The Tigers battled back cutting the lead to just two with 8:28 remaining in the half. After trading baskets the Little Giants were able to take a three point advantage into the half leading 26-23.

In the second half, the Tigers quickly erased the three point deficit and jumped ahead 30-29 with 17:03 on the clock behind one of Michael Wilkison's five three-pointers. The Little Giants bounced back and extended their lead to as much as seven with 12:53 left in the game. However, DePauw was able to answer with an 8-0 run and would not trail for the remaining ten minutes of the game.

Wilkison led all scorers with a season-high 26 points shooting 72.7 percent (8-11) from the floor including a 5-6 mark from three-point land. Tommy Fernitz went 4-4 from the free throw line on his way to a 14 point performance. Bob Dillon led the Tigers with seven rebounds.

Kyle Aiton led Wabash with 19 points, while Daniel Purvlicis and Austin Burton each added nine points. Purvlicis grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in a losing effort.

The Tigers were very reliable from the charity stripe down the stretch where they totaled 24 points on 30 attempts (80.0 percent). Additionally, the Tigers forced 11 Wabash turnovers and were able to convert 19 points off of those turnovers.

Wabash did outrebound DePauw 33-31 including a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass. Both teams scored 22 points in the paint, but the Tigers were able to have a stronger bench performance outscoring the Little Giant bench 22-16.

DePauw returns to Neal Fieldhouse Saturday, January 25, when they take 2nd-ranked Wooster. This NCAC contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: