Mike Howland dished out eight assists in the Tigers' win over Trinity. (photo: Marilyn Culler)

Box score

GREENCASTLE, IND. - Coach Bill Fenlon may have found a new pregame ritual for his Tigers. On Thursday evening team members participated in a drum circle on campus and 24 hours later the Tigers drummed Trinity 73-49 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Neal Fieldhouse.

DePauw snapped a two -game losing streak and improved to 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the SCAC, while Trinity fell to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

Four Tigers scored in double figures led by Joe Nixon with 25. Joe Ringger added 14 followed by Jeremy Bettis and Mike Howland with 12 apiece. The Tigers' defense held Trinity to a season-low 49 points and DePauw finished with a 31-25 advantage on the board. Offensively, DePauw shot 46 percent against a team that leads Division III in field goal percentage defense at 35.6 percent. The 73 points equaled the most scored against the 11th-ranked defense this season.

Trinity scored the first four points of the contest, but DePauw scored the next seven and never relinquished the lead. That margin reached as many as 19 points in the first half at 37-18. The hosts l entered the break with a 38-22 advantage.

Joe Nixon led the Tigers with 25. (photo: Marilyn Culler)

The visiting Tigers were still within 13 points after Mike MacGregor's three-pointer with 13:27 left in the game, but DePauw put together a 10-0 run over the next 4:08 to deliver the knock-out blow and take a 61-38 lead with 9:19 remaining.

"We played with all of the defensive energy as we did last week, but the difference tonight was that we were in the right place and not jumping around," Fenlon said.

DePauw grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and converted them into 17 points, while Trinity managed just six points on their 10 offensive boards.

Matt Zahn came off the bench to lead Trinity with 10 points. DePauw's Howland dished out a season-high eight assists in the victory.

DePauw hosts Southwestern at Noon on Sunday. The Pirates (6-6, 2-4) lost at Rose-Hulman last night by a 68-58 score.