Tigers fall to Majors by five; SCAC lead cut to one
February 1, 2002
Jackson, Miss. - The Tigers led much of the first half at Millsaps, but the Majors battled back in the second half and eventually took the lead for good with just under five minutes to play on the way to a 71-66 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win over DePauw.
DePauw slipped to 15-3 overall and 10-2 with the loss, while Millsaps improved to 14-5 and 8-4.
The Tigers used a 12-3 run late in the first half to take their biggest lead of the game at 33-24 with 2:10 left in the half. Millsaps scored the final four points of the half to close the gap to five at 33-28.
The Majors scored the first five points of the second half to tie the contest at 33-33. The hosts briefly took the lead before the Tigers regained it and push the margin to six at 50-44.
After Millsaps tooked the lead a few minutes later, Jon Owens hit a pair of free throws with 4:52 left to tie the game at 60-60.
Lance Stoner hit a free throw with 4:41 remaining to give the Majors a one-point advantage and Daniel Waguespack scored on a layup with 3:20 left to make it 63-60.
Waguespack and Lamonte Purvis each missed both ends of two-shot fouls before Jeremy Bettis' layup with 1:37 left cut the gap to 63-62. Waguespack made one of two free throws with 1:18 left to make it a two-point game. The Tigers turned the ball over on their next possession and Stoner pushed the lead to 66-62 with a pair of free throws with 51 seconds remaining.
Joe Nixon missed a three-pointer on the other end and Millsaps grabbed the rebound before the Tigers fouled Michael Schwitter with 35 seconds left. He nailed both free throws to make it 68-62. Ringger hit a pair of foul shots with 33 seconds left to cut the gap to 68-64. Trent Forrest then hit one of two to push the margin to five at 69-64.
The Tigers came up short on three three-point shots over the next 24 seconds. The last attempt went out-of-bounds off of a Millsaps player. The Tigers then scored on Ringger's layup on the inbounds play, but his free throw to complete the three-point play was off the mark and Schwitter hit a pair with 2.4 seconds remaining to put the game away.
Ringger led the Tigers with 24, while Bettis scored a career-high 23. Waguespack led Millsaps with 19 and Thomas Adams followed with 13. DePauw was outrebounded for just the second time this season as Millsaps held a 41-38 advantage on the boards. Ringger led DePauw with nine, while Bettis grabbed eight. Byron Cooper led Millsaps with 11 and the Majors totaled 19 offensive boards.
DePauw travels to Oglethorpe for a Sunday, February 3, game at Noon.