Tigers look to rebound from loss

With only four games remaining before the start of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, the DePauw men's basketball team will look to rebound from a big loss to Centre, 73-41, and build some momentum heading into the post season.

Coach Bill Fenlon acknowledged the fact that losing is never fun but put it into perspective.

"You can be fearful when you get pounded like that," Fenlon said, "although it's never as good as it seems or as bad as it seems."

With the loss, the Tigers fell to 17-4 on the season and are now knotted with Centre atop the SCAC standings at 8-2. DePauw's focus is now on the conference foes it will face this weekend.

First up for the Tigers is the Warriors of Hendrix college on Friday.

DePauw faced the Warriors back on Jan. 12 as the Tigers walked away with a victory, 75-62, on the strength of Austin Brown's 16 points and eight rebounds.

Hendrix is 13-7 overall and 5-5 in the SCAC on the season. Hendrix is led by Andrew King with 16 points and seven rebounds a game. Cal Rose, Michael Bennett and Matt Secrease are averaging a combined 33 points a game.

As a team, the Warriors are averaging 71 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the floor. From beyond the arc, they are shooting 36 percent and are completing 69 percent of its free throws.

Next in the Tigers path is the Austin Kangaroos on Sunday.

In their first meeting, Reid Sakel provided the firepower for the Tigers, lighting up the Roos for 17 points as the Tigers defeated Austin, 70-51, on Jan 14. Matt McDonald and Stephen Schott led DePauw with six boards each.

Austin is only 5-14 on the year and a dismal 0-10 in conference play. Jason Burton is the leader of the Kangaroos, leading the team in scoring with 10 points a game. Kyle May and Parker Hammons are chipping in 16 points per contest. Burton, Hammons and Sturtevant are collecting a combined 13 rebounds a game.

Shooting a slight 40 percent from the floor and 31 percent from the arc, the Roos are averaging only 64 points a game while allowing their opponents 71 a game.

Even with the loss, DePauw is a dominate force in the SCAC. They are second in the league in scoring and are tops in assist per game.

DePauw averages 74 points and pulls down 34 rebounds a game. They have both starters and bench players that are among the league leaders in stats.

Mike Moore leads the conference in assists a game with 4.7 per and Brian Oilar is leading the standings in three-point percentage.

Rebounding is always on the mind of the Tigers and their coach.

"We talk and focus on it a lot. We are really good when everyone gets involved," Fenlon said.

Schott is second in the league with three offensive boards a game and is third in overall rebounding with 8.3 per contest. Unfortunately, he is coming off a game where he went 0-for-7 from the field for no points. Fenlon looks for that no to become a habit.

"Steve was not a factor in the game of Saturday," Fenlon said. "Steve's a really competitive and I look for him to bounce back."

The Tigers will face Hendrix Friday at 8 p.m. and will return to action Sunday against Austin at noon. Both games will be broadcast live on 91.5 WGRE.