DePauw wins fifth straight Rokicki title

Tournament MVP David Gray maneuvers past an Ohio Northern defender in Sunday's championship game. Gray scored 20 to lead the Tigers to a 73-64 win.

Bolstered by career-high point totals from juniors David Gray and Tom Callen, DePauw wrapped up its fifth straight Mike Rokicki Community Versus Cancer Challenge title with a 73-64 win over Ohio Northern. The Tigers improved to 2-2 with the win, while the Polar Bears suffered their first loss and are 3-1.

Ohio Northern took the early lead and held as much as a six-point advantage at 20-14 midway through the first half. The Tigers briefly took the lead late in the half and Mike Moore's three at the end of the half sent the teams to the break tied, 34-34.

Moore opened the second half with a bucket and Callen followed with a couple to give DePauw a 40-34 advantage.The Polar Bears closed the gap to 46-45 on a pair of Loudan Hammersmith free throws with 9:49 remaining, but Gray and Callen hit back-to-back jumpers and Gray added a free throw to make it 51-45. DePauw still led 63-59 with 3:37 remaining, but Callen hit two free throws before Lemasters hit one charity toss and knocked down a three with 2:00 left ot push the lead to double digits at 69-59.

DePauw junior Tom Callen blows past his defender and puts in two of his 16 points Sunday.

Gray earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors with a career-high 20 points, while Moore added 19 and hit all 10 free throws to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Moore scored 45 in the two games. Callen followed with 16 points and eight rebounds.

After the game, DPU head coach Bill Fenlon had nothing but positive things to say about his tournament MVP.

"What Dave did today was finish," Fenlon said. "At times, he's had a hard time finishing and you could just tell as the game went on, he was just more and more confident. He's quick and athletic and can certainly make some things happen."

Sam Bastian paced Ohio Northern with 12 points followed by Kyle Meyer with 11 and Ezra Bradshaw with 10. Bastian and Meyer were all-tourney selections as well.

DePauw shot 47.9 percent from the floor to Ohio Northern's 47.1 percent and the Tigers nailed 24 of 31 free throws in the win. The Polar Bears held a 31-24 advantage on the boards and were led by Meyer's six. Callen paced DePauw with eight.

In the third-place game, Defiance led all the way on the way to an 83-68 win over Earlham. The Yellow Jackets shot 56.9 percent from the floor and knocked down 10-of-17 three-pointers in the win, while holding the Quakers to just 33.9 percent shooting.

Heath Armstrong paced Defiance with 20 followed by Nick Sales and Anthony Pettaway with 17 each and Anthony Brown with 13. Pettaway earned a spot on the all-tournament team after hauling down 13 rebounds, while Eric Stolly grabbed 10. Defiance held a 45-22 rebound advantage in improving to 2-3.

Tristian Gregory paced the 0-5 Quakers with 18 points followed by Ryan Taylor with 12 and Kyle Calder with 11.

DePauw returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Wabash at 7:30 p.m.