DePauw men lose in NCAA DIII tourney's second round

AUGUSTANA -- Luke Lattner's layup at the buzzer got stuck between the rim and the backboard, ending the Tigers' season with a 68-66 loss at the hands of Augustana, in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Saturday night's heartbreaking loss drops DePauw's final record to 20-10, while sixth-ranked Augustana improved to 24-4 and will play in the Round of 16 next weekend.

The Vikings opened the contest on a 6-0 run before the Tigers battled back to tie the contest 13-13 with 9:30 left in the half. Connor Rich buried a pair of threes to give DePauw a three-point lead with 8:16 remaining.

Trailing by six with 7:12 in the half, Augustana closed the first-half on an 18-7 run, taking a 34-29 lead into the halftime break. The Titans shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the floor and went 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the charity stripe. Hunter Hill led all scorers with 10 points in the half.

DePauw went 12-of-25 (48%) from the floor in the half, including a 4-of-7 (57.1%) mark from three. The Tigers left six points at the free-throw line, going 1-of-7 in the half. Rich paced DePauw with eight first-half points on 3-of-3 shooting, including a pair of threes.

In the second stanza, the Tigers battled back to tie the contest on a Rich jumper at the 17:37 mark. The lead changed hands 10 times in the half, featuring six ties. Augustana took a four-point lead, its biggest of the half, on a three from Jawan Straughter with 14:31 left.

Lattner hit a pair free-throws with 4:00 left in the game, putting DePauw 65-60. Augustana responded with back-to-back layups from Ben Ryan and Griffin Pils, respectively. Lattner drew a foul with 2:35 on the clock and went 1-of-2 from the line, giving the Tigers a two-point lead.

Following a pair of missed Augustana threes, DePauw called a timeout, but failed to convert on the ensuing possession. The Titans tied the contest with 39 seconds left on a jumper from Brandon Motzel.

The Tigers had possession under the basket with under 10 seconds remaining. Bradley Fey's inbounds lob to Tommy Fernitz was stole by Straughter who was fouled by Bob Dillon.

Straughter went to the line hitting both free-throws, putting Augustana up two with five seconds left. Lattner took the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and jumped for a layup with under one second remaining. The ball lodged itself between the backboard and the rim as the buzzer sounded, spoiling the Tigers' upset hopes.

Fernitz led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Rich and Lattner added 12 points each. Fey added nine points and Dillon dished out four assists. The Tigers shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the floor, including 5-of-15 (33.3%) from three, going just 1-of-8 from deep in the second half. DePauw struggled from the line, shooting just 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the charity stripe.

Augustana shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the field and 4-of-15 (26.7%) from three. The Vikings capitalized from the charity stripe, going 20-of-24 (83.3%) for the game. Hunter led Augustana with 16 points, while Pils added 15. Ryan and Nic Hoepfner tallied 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

The Vikings held a 29-26 advantage on the glass and won the turnover battle 14-12.

DePauw finishes the year with 20 wins, its most since the 2009-10 season. The Tigers captured their first North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title and defeated Washington (Mo.) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, earning their first postseason victory since 2002.