GREENCASTLE – Despite a game-high 28-point performance from Luke Lattner, the men's basketball team was unable to match Denison's scoring and physicality as they opened North Coast Athletic Conference play Wednesday night with an 80-67 loss.

The Tigers played from behind for all but the first minute of the contest when it was scoreless and trailed by as many as 20 within the first 10 minutes.

However, the Tigers made a number of attempts to get back into the game, closing the gap at halftime behind 45-33 and getting as close as nine midway through the second half.

But Denison's Darius White would not let DePauw get any closer widening a nine-point lead to 16 with three straight trips converting on 3-pointers to take a 71-55 advantage with less than eight minutes to go in the game.

White finished with a team-high 22 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range. He also added five rebounds and two steals. David Meurer scored 17 and Jett Speelman added 11 for the Big Red.

DePauw's only other double digit scorer was Bradley Fey who finished with 12 points. John Starkey scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds as both players came off the bench to contribute what ended up being 23 bench points.

Jack VandeMerkt scored six points and recorded six rebounds, and Nate Jahn also scored six. Clint Cunningham, David Vogel and Cris Burrough all had two points each to round out the scoring.

Denison outrebounded the Tigers 35-29 and shot 50 percent (30-of-59) from the field to DePauw's 41 percent (23-of-56). They also shot 45 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-22) and collected 36 points in the paint while DePauw shot 29 percent from deep (6-of-21) and scored 32 points in the paint.

The loss drops the Tigers to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC. Denison moves to 4-2 and 1-0 in the NCAC. DePauw returns to action Saturday when they travel to Wooster.