Box score

DePauw opened the 2003-04 season with a 79-77 win over Lakeland in the first game of the Transylvania Tipoff Tournament in Lexington, Ky.

Alex Stewart matched a career high with 20 points, while Jon Owens added 14, Reid Sakel 11 and Wes Thornhill 10 in the Tigers' victory. Morton Smiedowicz paced the Muskies with 29 followed by Cory Nickel with 17.

DePauw trailed by as many as 10 at 14-4 in the opening seven minutes, but went on a 26-10 run over the next 8:20 to take a 30-24 advantage. Lakeland regained the lead at 36-35 heading into the intermission. In the opening 20 minutes, the Muskies shot 54 percent from the floor while the Tigers connected on just 35 percent.

The game was tied at 43-43 four minutes into the second half, but the Tigers started to pull away in building a 66-56 lead with eight minutes left. Lakeland closed to within one at 78-77 with 23 seconds left before Thornhill hit one of two free throws to push the lead to two. Cory Nickel was whistled for an offensive foul with two seconds left to preserve the win for the Tigers. DePauw connected on 52 percent of its field goal tries in the second half to just 36 percent for the Muskies.

DePauw advances to the championship game on Saturday where they will face Wisconsin-Whitewater which defeated Transylvania 72-64 in Friday's second game.