Box Score
Joe Ringger on the way to two of his season-high 25 points against Earlham. Ringger also added 13 rebounds for his second double-double this year and the sixth of his career
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Greencastle, Ind. - It probably wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Earlham's Travis Brett single-handedly snapped DePauw's win streak at 16 straight games and handed the Tigers their first loss of the season in a 106-101 overtime contest at the Neal Fieldhouse. Earlham improved to 7-7, while DePauw fell to 11-1.
All the 6-0, 167-pound senior guard did was nail 10 three-pointers and score a career-high 38 points including 21 in the final 3:36 of regulation and the five minutes of overtime. His trey with three seconds left in regulation sent the contest into the extra session.
DePauw held an 84-80 lead after Jon Owens hit a pair of free throws with 1:08 left in regulation to put the Tigers ahead 84-80. Brett closed the gap to one with a three-pointer with 46 seconds left.
The Tigers missed two free throws with 32 seconds left, but maintained possession since the foul was ruled intentional. Jeremy Bettis hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 86-83 with 20 seconds left.
Jeremy Bettis scored 19 and grabbed six points for the Tigers
Brett missed a three-pointer with 13 seconds left and Sean O'Reilley snatched the rebound. Brett fired another three with eight seconds left and missed, but Larry Hart grabbed the board and got the ball back to Brett who was deep in the left corner and buried the shot with three seconds remaining to send the game to overtime tied at 86-86.
In overtime, Earlham scored the first five points on Brett's three-pointer and two free throws by Nathan Stoops. The Tigers later closed to within two, but O'Reilley's steal and Stoops' three with 1:51 pushed the margin back to five and the Tigers would get no closer than three the rest of the way.
Earlham led by as many as nine in the first half at 23-14 after Neal Perry, Hart and Stoops hit consecutive baskets. DePauw battled back to tie the contest at 33-33 with 3:46 left in the first half and took as big as a four-point advantage before going to halftime with a 42-41 lead. The Quakers held a 19-13 advantage on the boards at the break and hauled down eight on the offensive glass.
The lead went back-and-forth in the second half before the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to take a 67-58 lead with 10:55 left. Joe Ringger's two field goals sandwiched a Mike Howland free throw and Nixon closed the run with a three.
The Tigers still held a 78-72 lead after Ringger completed a three-point play with 6:07 left. Brett then hit a three-pointer, two free throws and another three in a span of 2:55 to cap an 8-2 run that the game at 80-80.
Ringger led the Tigers with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Nixon scored 22 and grabbed seven boards. Bettis finished with 19 points and Howland added 18 with seven assists.
Stoops finished with 15 for the Quakers, while Brady Keaton added 11 and Mike Bradley and Jason Smith each added 10. Earlham outrebounded the Tigers 39-37 and were the first team to do so in the last 27 games.
The Tigers, in sole possession of first place in the SCAC, travel to Southwestern on Friday for an 8 p.m. CST game.
NOTES: Joe Nixon moved into a tie for ninth with Mike Connor (1984-88) with 1,271 career points ... Mike Howland moved into 15th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,203 points ... Howland moved into second place on DePauw's all-time assists charts with 371 ... Travis Brett's 10 three-pointers were a Neal Fieldhouse record ... Earlham's win snapped DePauw's 14-game win streak over the Quaker that dated back to the 1963-64 season and was their first victory over the Tigers in Greencastle since the 1945-46 season ... DePauw's 101 points were their most since they totaled 120 against IU-Northwest in a 120-39 win during the 1998-99 ... The 106 points allowed were the most against the Tigers since Wabash scored 107 in the season opener of the 1980-81 campaign ... The 206 combined points were the most in a DePauw game since the 1976-77 season when DePauw defeated St. Joseph's, 116-103.
