Joe Ringger posted his 12th double-double of the year with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Memphis, Tenn. (2-27-03) - Joe Ringger and Jeremy Bettis each posted double-doubles and Wes Thornhill established a career-best scoring mark to lead top-seed DePauw to a 74-64 win over Rhodes in the first game of the inaugural Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

The 18-7 Tigers advance to the semifinals where they will face Centre at 3:30 p.m. CST on Friday. Rhodes finished the season at 10-15.

Rhodes jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, but DePauw scored the next 10 to take the lead for good. The Tigers shot 72 percent in the first half in building a 52-37 halftime advantage.

As well as DePauw shot in the first half was as poorly as they shot in the second half as the Tigers connected on just 19 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

Rhodes scored seven straight late in the second half and closed the gap to as little as five at 64-59 with 2:03 left.

Ringger's bucket with 1:00 left and two free throws each from Thornhill and Kleymeyer sealed the victory.

Ringger led the Tigers with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Thorhill established a career high with 17 points. Bettis finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Wes Can paced Rhodes with 21 points followed by Rami Almefty with 17 and Matthew Jakes with 12.

DePauw's fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,516 points, Ringger moved into fifth place on the SCAC's all-time scoring list. His 751 career rebounds is just nine shy of the SCAC mark of 760 held by John Garber of Millsaps from 1993-97 and ranks third in DePauw history.