Tigers upended by Big Red

DePauw jumped out to a 15-point lead in the first half, but visiting Denison came back and claimed an 83-74 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over the Tigers in Neal Fieldhouse. The Tigers dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC, while Denison improved to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

The Tigers hit their first seven field goals and 10 of their first 11 in building a 26-11 lead in the game's first seven minutes. Denison quickly changed the momentum with three-straight 3-pointers and a free throw to trim the deficit to 26-21 at the midway point of the opening half.

Denison was within four at 28-24 before DePauw's Elijah Hales hit a pair of 3-pointers to push the margin back to double figures. The Big Red scored the next seven to cut the DePauw lead to 34-31 with 5:02 left in the half.

Hales again stopped the run with a three before Grant Niego hit a bucket and Nick Wissel, Camden Brown and Grant Niego each knocked in two free throws to cap an 11-0 run that pushed the Tigers' lead to 45-31 with just over one minute remaining. The teams exchanged baskets in the final minute and DePauw took a 47-36 lead into the intermission.

The Tigers still held an 11-point lead, 53-42, in the first five minutes of the second half before the Big Red started chipping away. Tyler Miller's three started a 9-0 stretch that trimmed the Tigers' advantage to 53-51 with 12:02 remaining.

Denison gained its first lead of the contest at 56-55 when Ricky Radtke hit a trey, The lead went back-and-forth until Scott Dean hit a 3-pointer at the 5:20 mark and Kevin Cheng did the same following a DePauw turnover to give the Big Red a 71-66 lead with 4:42 remaining.

DePauw briefly closed the gap to two at 73-71, but the Tigers managed just three points over the final three minutes and Denison nailed 8-of-11 free throws to seal the win.

Hales matched a career high with 26 points including 19 in the first half. Grant Gohmann added 12. Grant Niego and Nolan Niego each had five rebounds and Grant Niego dished out a career-high seven assists.

Miller paced Denison with 27 points with Radtke adding 13, a game-high 11 rebounds and five assists. Darren Rubin followed with 10 points.

DePauw shot 42.2 percent from the field, but just 32.4 in the second half, while the Big Red his 52.8 percent for the game and 56.0 percent in the second half. The Big Red also held a 35-27 rebounding edge. The Tigers committed just nine turnovers to Denison's 13.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, December 4, when they travel to Wooster for a 3 p.m. contest.