DPU men beat Coast Guard

TAMPA -- The DePauw men's basketball team opened the Tampa Bay Shootout with an 82-71 win over the Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday.

Luke Lattner led all scorers with 25 points, and John Starkey posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers, who posted their second consecutive win and improve to 4-5 on the year.

The Tigers received production throughout its entire lineup as eight players scored six points or more. Jack VandeMerkt scored nine, David Vogel and Adam Botts scored eight, Clint Cunningham scored seven and Mason Hankins and Cris Burrough scored six.

DePauw shot 50 percent from the floor (31-of-62) and 48 percent from three-point range (10-of-21). However, they struggled at the foul line at 47 percent (10-of-21).

Coast Guard (6-2) shot 39 percent from the floor (21-of-70), 40 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-20) and 64 percent from the charity stripe (9-of-14). They were led by Kevin Alvarez's 18 points. Micah Baldez and Ethan Boose added 16 for Coast Guard.

DePauw won the rebound advantage at 45-29 and tallied 16 assists to Coast Guard's 11. There were 13 lead changes and 13 ties. However, Coast Guard only pulled ahead by as much as two

DePauw, on the other hand, pulled away late. With the game tied at 46 and 15 minutes to go, the Tigers went on a 20-7 run to gain its largest lead of the game at 66-53 with 8:41 remaining.

The Tigers return to action tomorrow to play in the 1 p.m. game of the Tampa Bay Shootout.