West Indy News

Tigers Rally for Win over Ohio Wesleyan

DePauw used a 13-0 second-half run to erase a 12-point deficit and held on for a 64-62 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers improved to 17-8 overall and finished NCAC play at 9-7. The Battling Bishops dropped to 15-9 overall and 10-5 in conference play.

Ohio Wesleyan led 17-16 midway through the first half and went on a 12-1 run to take its largest lead of the game at 29-17. DePauw trimmed the deficit to nine on a couple of occasions before the Battling Bishops took a 37-26 advantage into the intermission. Over the first 20 minutes, the Battling Bishops shot 55.2 percent from the floor to DePauw's 30.6 percent. 

The Ohio Wesleyan lead was still 12 at 40-28 after Grant Spicer's 3-pointer with 17:58 left. An Elijah Hales basket followed by Grant Niego's three-point play and Nolan Niego's layup on a break quickly cut the margin to 40-35 with 15:20 remaining. The Battling Bishops led 44-39 following Jack Clement's bucket at the 12:17 mark, but the guests went scoreless for nearly five minutes as the Tigers rattled off 13 straight. Five different Tigers scored during the stretch with Sam Jacobs capping the run with a jumper to make it 52-44 with 8:29 remaining.

DePauw's lead was still eight at 61-53 after Jacobs scored with 3:12 left, but Clement and Henry Hinkle hit threes on back-to-back possessions to trim the Tigers' lead to two with just over two minutes left. The Tigers missed on their next possession, but the guests turned it over on theirs. Grant Niego's basket with 48 seconds left pushed DePauw's lead to four before Hinkle knocked down a trey with 30 seconds remaining. 

The Battling Bishops had to foul three times to send the Tigers into the bonus and Jacobs make the front end of a one-and-one. Ohio Wesleyan rebounded the missed second shot and the Tigers fouled a pair of times before the Battling Bishops called a timeout with nine seconds remaining. Tony Carter's three with the clock running down was off the mark and Nolan Niego secured the rebound for the win.

Hales led DePauw with 15 points, while Camden Brown followed with 14, Grant Niego 12 and Nolan Niego 11. Grant Niego matched a career-high with nine rebounds and dished out six assists.

Spicer scored a game-high 24 with Hinkle adding 16 and Clement 13. Carter led the Battling Bishops with 10 rebounds.

DePauw shot 38.9 percent for the game to Ohio Wesleyan's 44.1 percent, but the Tigers committed just two turnovers to the Battling Bishops' 12. DePauw outrebounded Ohio Wesleyan, 40-39, but snagged 15 on the offensive glass for a 19-8 edge in second-chance points.

The Tigers will open NCAC Tournament play on Tuesday, Feb. 21, with a quarterfinal game against a team to be determined.

Original source can be found here.