Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw scored eight straight in the closing minutes to pull away from Hiram and take an 88-81 North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Terriers. The Tigers improved to 10-10 overall and 6-5 in the NCAC, while the Terriers dropped to 6-14 overall and 1-10 in conference play.

DePauw jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Hiram scored the next seven and led for much of the first half. The Terriers' reached as much as six before the Tigers closed the half with a pair of Reph Stevenson free throws and a bucket by Kyle Lillwitz to take a 44-43 lead at the break.

Hiram extended the lead to as many as eight in the opening three minutes of the second half and still led by five at 59-54 after Josh Martin knocked in a three. The Tigers then rattled off 13 straight starting with Stevenson's bucket and Brady Kunka's fast break dunk. Patrick Joyce followed with a three before Kunka nailed a pair of free throws. Sam Jacobs and Andre Ozlowski finished the run with buckets to give DePauw a 67-59 lead with 10:41 left.

The Terriers chipped away at the Tigers' lead and evened the count at 76-76 on Manuel Devora Violan's basket with .4:05 remaining.

The game was still tied at 78-78 before Lillwitz scored a driving layup with 3:02 left. Caleb Washington's jumper at the 1:26 mark pushed the lead to four and Lillwitz hit a pair of free throws with 50 seconds left after Hiram missed a trey attempt to make it 84-78. 

On their next possession, Hiram missed a pair of threes and the Tigers answered with two Joe Smith free throws to push the lead to 86-78 with 29 seconds remaining. The Terriers' Collin Jones knocked in a three with 13 seconds left, but Jacobs and Stevenson each made a free throw in the final 10 seconds to wrap up the win.

Lillwitz led DePauw with 22 points followed by Stevenson with 20 and Kunka chipped in 14. Stevenson grabbed 11 rebounds and Smith dished out three assists. 

Brock Makrancy paced Hiram with 25 points followed by Trent Jakacki with 14 and team highs of 10 assists and four steals. Devora Violan finished with 11 points.

DePauw shot 50 percent from the floor to Hiram's 47 percent and the Tigers held a 39-27 rebounding edge.

The Tigers host Wittenberg on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m.