Gambier, Ohio – The No. 33 DePauw men's tennis team was denied a chance to play in the NCAC Tournament Championship after falling to No. 32 Denison 5-3 in the semifinals on Saturday.

The battle between the No. 2 seeded Tigers and the No. 3 seeded Big Red lasted 4 hours and 45minutes  as the teams played to a 3-3 stalemate until Denison took the final two matches it needed.

The Big Red got out to a 2-1 start in doubles play after taking the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spots. Harold Martin and Nate Wallace got DePauw on the board first, however, at No. 3 doubles with an 8-1 win.

Denison grew their lead at No. 1 singles as Kevin Brown defeated Dan Rodefeld 6-3, 6-4. However, DePauw took the next two matches at No. 3 singles and No. 4 singles. Alec Kaczkowski won at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-1, and Matt Santen won at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-3.

Denison went on to take No. 2 singles as Jamie McDonald defeated Patrick Farrell 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and No. 6 singles as Costas Alevizopoulos defeated Martin 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Greg Frauenheim's No. 5 singles match was left unfinished.

DePauw (11-10) will play Oberlin in the third place match at 10 a.m. Sunday.