Tigers Win Eighth Straight; Improve to 18-4

BOX SCORE 

February 10, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. - Ryan Werntz hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining and the Tigers needed both of them as Birmingham-Southern's Aaron Parr nailed a three from half court at the buzzer in DePauw's 68-67 win at the Neal Fieldhouse. DePauw improved to 18-4, while the Panthers dropped to 12-10.

DePauw held a 66-59 lead after Stephen Schott hit a pair of free throws with 1:49 remaining, but Birmingham-Southern's Wil Gilmore knocked in a three-pointer following a DePauw timeout to close the margin to 66-62.

Gilmore closed the DePauw lead to 66-64 with 51 seconds left on a layup after the Tigers couldn't control the defensive rebound following a Panthers' miss. Roger Williams blocked a Steve Lemasters shot on DePauw's next possession, but Williams missed a potential tying layup with 12 seconds remaining.

Werntz then sealed the game with his two free throws and Parr made it a one-point finish with his heave from just inside the midcourt line.

The teams battled through a tight first half that included seven ties and eight lead changes with DePauw gaining the lead for good at 34-31 on four straight free throws by Schott in the final 1:16 of the first half.

DePauw stretched the lead to as many as 11 at 55-44 with 10:03 left after Lemasters hit three three-pointers in a 1:07 stretch.

Gilmore scored the next nine Birmingham-Southern points to close the gap to 55-53 with 6:48 remaining. Schott hit a pair of free throws and Brian Oilar added a jumper to push the lead back to six at the 5:48 mark. The Panthers later closed the lead to three, before the Tigers pushed it back to seven with just under two minutes left.

Schott's 28-point performance was the second highest of his career and the most he's scored at the Neal Fieldhouse. He added a game-high nine rebounds as DePauw held a 34-29 advantage on the boards. Oilar followed with 11 points and three blocks, while Mike Moore added eight assists and just one turnover.

Gilmore paced the Panthers with 22 points followed by Parr with 17 and Daniel Hudson with 11. Michael Rebarchak grabbed six rebunds in the loss.

The Tigers shot just 40 percent for the game and only 34.5 percent in the second half, but knocked down 5-of-14 three-pointers over the final 20 minutes. Birmingham-Southern hit 49 percent from the field including 50 percent in the second half.

DePauw concludes the home portion of its regular season on Saturday, February 16, when it hosts Centre at 3 p.m.