Rival Wabash takes win over DePauw men

A herd of Little Giants looks on as Cris Burrough puts up a jumper against Wabash Wednesday in the 80-75 DePauw loss. (DPU Photo)

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- The DePauw men's basketball team could not hold on to a lead that they held for almost 34 minutes as Wabash took the first regular season matchup between the two teams 80-75 Wednesday.

DePauw led 71-67 with four minutes remaining until Wabash embarked on a game-closing 13-4 run.

Down by five with only seconds remaining, a quick layup from Cris Burrough and a DePauw timeout made it a 78-75 game with 14 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession, DePauw's full-court pressure forced Wabash into a turnover. The inbound pass bounced off a Wabash player's face. The referees went to the monitor to confirm the play and DePauw received the ball with 12.8 seconds remaining and down three.

The Tigers looked for another quick layup from Burrough but he missed and Wabash went on for the 80-75 win.

Burrough paced the Tigers with a team- and career-high 22 points and leading the team with 17 in the second half. David Vogel had a strong first half with 14 points and finished with 18. Luke Lattner added 17.

Johnny Jager led the Little Giants with a game-high 31 points. Daniel Purvlicis added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Wabash controlled the boards, outrebounding DePauw 45-23, while also pulling in 16 offensive rebounds. In the second half alone they won the rebound advantage 27-10.

Wabash also got to the free throw line plenty of times, going 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) to the Tigers' 5-of-9 (55.6 percent).

DePauw shot the ball well for the second straight game, hitting 48 percent of their shots (30-of-63) and 44 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-23). However, the Little Giants were even better at 51 percent from the floor (29-of-57) and 50 percent from 3-point range (5-of-10).

DePauw scored more points in the paint at 26-16 and scored more points off turnovers at 17-13. They also committed fewer turnovers at 12-7.

The loss drops DePauw to 6-10 overall and 2-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Wabash moves to 9-7 overall and 3-6 in the conference.

DePauw hosts Wooster on Saturday in the first game of a men/women doubleheader at 1 p.m.