DePauw Tigers punish Oberlin Yeomen in post, win home opener 66-44

Saturday, November 23, 2013
DPU senior Mike Wilkison scores on an athletic layup late in the first half.

The DePauw men's basketball team took advantage the tentative post defense of Oberlin College during Saturday's home opener at DPU.

DePauw scored 34 points in the paint in the 66-44 North Coast Athletic Conference win.

"You've got to win games to be in the hunt, and this is a game we didn't win last year," DPU head coach Bill Fenlon said. "We're one ahead of where we were last year."

Sophomore center Mark Johnson had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds to help the Tigers control the glass. Senior center Camron Burns added eight points, all on low-post isolations as he backed down and shot over the Yeomen defenders. Senior forward Pat Haggin had nine points and five rebounds.

Oberlin (0-3, 0-2 NCAC) found room to drive effectively, trying to counter DePauw's post scoring but they were met at the basket by DPU defenders and struggled finding open looks.

The Tigers seemed to be given a two-foot cushion in the post, making it easier to catch and shoot. A new policy on rule enforcement is encouraging referees to call fouls on most contact in the post, which makes it easier to catch the ball in advantageous spots.

"What people don't understand is the offense really wants the contact," Fenlon said. "We felt like (Burns) could score one-on-one with the guy down there, and that was a pretty good matchup for us."

DPU (3-0, 1-0 NCAC) trailed 10-9 with 13:48 left in the first half when the Tigers subbed in senior guard Mike Wilkison, the team's leading scorer. Coinciding with his entrance was a late arriving crowd.

The combination seemed to lift the energy of the players and help to mentally shake them into the game.

"The preparation for them is a really mental thing," Fenlon said. "We got back-cut a couple times early, and that's all we talked about all week was not getting back cut. That takes the air out of you a little bit.

"It just took us a while to not be thinking so much and kind of settle in."

Wilkison played 12 minutes in the first half and had 12 of his game-high 17 points. He finished the game 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from three.

"He gives us some fire power coming off the bench," Fenlon said. "When you have a guy that can come in and create or knock down a 3, that can change the tone of the game.

"I don't know if that's something we're going to continue to do all year or if we'll shake that up, but it's working so far."

DPU closed out the first half on a 25-11 run and extended its lead to as much as 26 in the second half before slowing the game to its conclusion.

Senior Geoff Simpson led the Yeomen in scoring with 12. Sophomore Randy Ollie and freshman Nathan Cohen had six rebounds each.

DPU forced 21 turnovers and held the Yeomen to just 17-for-47 shooting. The Tigers also had eight more rebounds (36-28) than Oberlin.

DePauw will look to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2010-11 when it hosts Mount Saint Joseph on Tuesday.



Box Score

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: