Box score and play-by-play

Tigers celebrate following Bill Fenlon's record-setting 183rd DePauw victory (photo: Gary Barcus)

Terre Haute, Ind. - It was probably fitting that on a night when Bill Fenlon became DePauw's winningest coach, the Tigers won in typical hard-fought battle against rival Rose-Hulman. DePauw held on in the closing minutes for a 63-52 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win over the Engineers.

The victory, the Tigers' seventh straight and 13th in the last 14 games, lifted their overall record to 16-6 and their SCAC-leading mark to 11-1. Rose-Hulman dropped to 9-14 overall and 6-6 in the SCAC. The Tigers also secured no worse than a number-three seed at the SCAC Championship which begins on February 27 in Memphis.

Fenlon picked up his 183rd career win in 11 seasons at DePauw and broke the mark previously held by Elmer McCall (1958-78) against a team he coached from 1988 through 1991.

The Tigers didn't trail in the first half and led by as many as 11 on the way to a 34-26 halftime lead.

DePauw held a 38-31 lead early in the second half before the Engineers rattled off seven straight points to knot the score at 38-38 on Jon Query's three-pointer with 15:57 left. Rose-Hulman then took their first lead at 42-40 lead on back-to-back baskets by Munchie Muskeyvalley.

The Tigers later pulled away to a 52-45 lead after Alex Stewart buried a three with 6:51 remaining, but Brian Bibb answered with a three just 20 seconds later to close the gap to 52-48.

Wes Thornhill hit two free throws to make it 54-48 and Muskeyvalley countered with a layup to make it 54-50 with 4:46 left. Joey Hanger knocked down a three with 4:36 remaining and added a layup with 3:16 left to extend the margin to 59-50. Kareem Lee knocked down two free throws to cut the gap to seven before Thornhill hit four straight charity tosses in the final 1:14.

Joe Ringger was the other double-figure scorer with 13 points. Phillip Griffith posted a double-double for the Engineers with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Muskeyvalley added 12 and Bibb followed with 10. Griffith blocked four shots, while Ringger swatted away three and Bettis added two.

DePauw concludes the regular season next weekend with a Friday game at Trinity and a Sunday contest at Southwestern.