Box score and play-by-play

OBERLIN, Ohio - The Tiger men's basketball team used strong starts in each half on the way to a 77-60 non-conference win at Oberlin College. The win lifted the Tigers' record to 11-5, while the Yeomen fell to 4-11.

Joe Ringger scored seven of the Tigers' first 12 points as DePauw held the Yeomen without a score until the 15:22 mark of the half. That lead reached as many as 21 at 29-8 following Ringger's layup with 7:44 left.

However, that would be the last field goal for the Old Gold the remainder of the half. In fact, the Tigers scored just one more point in the half on Ringger's free throw with 2:36 left. Oberlin, meanwhile, scored 16 points during the run over the final 6:22 of the half to close the DePauw lead to 30-24 at the half.

"We didn't adjust very well to the zone they threw at us," head coach Bill Fenlon said. "Then when we didn't adjust we also backed off defensively."

The Tigers shot just 37.5 percent at the break, but held a 31-17 rebounding edge led by Joe Nixon with 10 boards. Ringger had 15 points at halftime.

DePauw started the second half strong with eight straight points in the first 1:26 as three-pointers from Jon Owens and Mike Howland sandwiched a basket by Jeremy Bettis.

Oberlin closed the gap to single digits only once the rest of the way as they trimmed it to 51-42 after an 8-0 run. DePauw's second half margin reached a high of 20 points at 69-49 on Bettis' three-pointer with 5:32 left.

"We made good adjustments at halftime and really attacked well," Fenlon said.

Ringger led the Tigers with a career-high 26 points while Bettis posted career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Nixon also added a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.

Maurice Elrod paced the Yeomen with 21 followed by Brian Buchanan with 14 and Cameron Leverett with 10. The Tigers held Oberlin's leading scorer, James Knight, to just six points on 3-of-20 from the field. Knight came in to the contest averaging over 22 points per game with highs of 43 and 39 this year. 

DePauw held a 49-36 advantage on the boards and shot 49 percent for the game including 64 percent in the second half.

DePauw returns to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Friday as they travel to Rhodes College for an 8 p.m. CST game.

NOTES: The Tigers closed the non-conference portion of the regular season with a 6-1 record outside of the SCAC ... Jon Owens' seven points were a career high as were Wes Thornhill's four points and three rebounds ... Joe Nixon's 902 career points rank 22nd in school history and he needs 20 more to move into 21st and24 to move into the 20th spot.