Tigers snap SCAC road skid with 73-61 win at Rhodes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Tigers rid themselves of several demons with a 73-61 win at Rhodes. First, the win snapped DePauw's four-game, road losing streak in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference games. Second, it was their first win in Memphis since joining the SCAC. Finally, the Tigers held on to a second-half lead on the road.

The Tigers opened the game in much the same way as they've done often this season in building an early lead. DePauw scored the game's first nine points in the opening 2:16 on a pair of layups from Jeremy Bettis that sandwiched a Joe Nixon three-pointer and a Mike Howland jumper.

The stretched that margin to 15 on a couple of occasions at 25-10 and 27-12. The Tigers still held a 28-14 lead after Joe Ringger hit a free throw with just over five minutes left in the half. That was when Bryan Baird brought the Lynx back into the game by himself.

Baird hit five three-pointers and a free throw over a span of four minutes in a 16-2 Rhodes run to tie the game at 30-30. The teams went to the break tied at 32-32.

DePauw regained the lead early in the second half before Rhodes put together a 12-4 string to take a 44-39 lead with 16:57 left. Six of those points came from a pair of three-pointers from Baird.

The Tigers regrouped and scored eight straight as Nixon, Howland, Jon Owens and Todd Humerickhouse each scored to put the Tigers ahead 47-44 with 13:54 remaining. Matthew Pate scored for the Lynx to close the DePauw lead to one, but the Tigers again scored eight unanswered points to cap off a 16-1 run and take a 55-46 advantage with 9:16 left. Howland, Ringger, Nixon and Bettis each hit baskets during that stretch.

Rhodes clawed back to within three at 62-59 on a three-pointer from Austin Lux with 3:41 left, but Dave Gifford answered with a basket on the Tigers' next possession. Nixon buried a three-pointer with 1:53 left to push the lead to eight and the Tigers were never threatened.

Nixon led the Tigers with 29 as he hit all six of his three-point attempts. Bettis added 13 and Ringger 10. Baird, who hit 10 three-pointers, scored 31 with Neal Power adding 12. The Tigers shot 63 percent for the game and held Rhodes to just 41.5 percent. That was the best shooting performance by a DePauw team since December 19, 1998, when the Tigers shot nearly 71 percent in a win over Indiana-Northwest.

The Tigers face Hendrix on Sunday for a 1 p.m. CST game. Hendrix lost to Rose-Hulman on Friday.