Greencastle, Ind. - Visiting Wabash used an 18-4 first-half run to take a 13-point lead and DePauw got no closer than three the rest of the way as the Little Giants left with a 69-61 North Coast Athletic Conference win. DePauw dropped to 11-8 overall and 6-4 in the NCAC, while Wabash improved to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the NCAC.
DePauw held an early 5-4 lead, but made just one field goal over the next 8 1/2 minutes in part due to three blocked shots by Wabash's Noah Hupmann during a stretch of just over four minutes. Ahmoni Jones' 3-pointer with 8:51 gave Wabash a 22-9 lead.
Kyle Lillwitz buried a three and a subsequent free throw for a four-point play before
Ronald Johnson hit back-to-back buckets to trim the Wabash lead to 22-17 with 6:03 left.
After the Little Giants expanded the lead back to eight,
Reph Stevenson and
Sam Jacobs closed the gap to four with baskets before Jones scored the final points of the half to extend Wabash's lead to 30-24.
DePauw closed the gap to three in the opening minutes of the second half, but a 9-2 Wabash stretch that included a three from Sam Comer and back-to-back treys from Vinny Buccilla pushed Wabash's margin to 10.
While the Tigers were within five on three occasions, Wabash answered each time and eventually pushed the lead to 57-47 with 7:00 remaining on a Comer jumper. That marked the Little Giants' final field goal of the contest as they knocked down 12-of-13 free throws the rest of the way and DePauw got no closer than seven.
Jacobs led DePauw with 17 points, while Lillwitz added 12 and Johnson 11. Stevenson and
Caleb Washington each had nine rebounds in the loss.
Buccilla paced Wabashwith 14 points with Jones adding 11 and Comer 10. Comer also led Wabash with seven rebounds and four assists, while Hupmann blocked six shots.
DePauw shot 38.7 percent to Wabash's 35.1 percent, but the Little Giants made 10 3-pointers to DePauw's five. Wabash hit 19-of-23 free throws, while DePauw finished with 8-of-15 shooting from the charity stripe.
The Tigers committed just five turnovers and Wabash had just three.
DePauw returns to action on Saturday, Jan.27, when they travel to Wooster for a 3:15 game.
