Gambier, Ohio- Bradley Fey netted four-straight free-throws in the final 17 seconds to seal a 66-61 victory for the DePauw men's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Kenyon.
The Tigers improved to 16-7 overall and 9-7 in North Coast Athletic Conference play, while the Lords dropped to 7-16 on the year and 5-11 in the league.
Kenyon seized early control of the contest, opening the game on an 8-0 run. Jonathan Amador capped the run with a three at the 14:16 mark.
DePauw battled back to tie the contest at 23-23 with 2:32 remaining in the half. The Tigers used a 6-0 run as Adam Botts, Mark Johnson and Tommy Fernitz netted three-straight layups. Clint Cunningham's layup with 1:41 left gave DePauw its first lead of the contest.
Phillip Crampton beat the buzzer to give the Lords a 29-28 lead entering halftime. Kenyon shot 41.4 percent (12-of-29) in the half, including a 45.5 percent (5-of-11) mark from three.
The Tigers shot 34.6 percent (9-of-26) in the half, going 2-for-6 (33.3%) from three and 8-for-12 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. Fernitz had 12 first-half points, while Botts added eight points.
In the second half, DePauw tied the contest on Bob Dillon's three with 17:27 on the clock. Dillon hit a second three just 26 seconds later to put the Tigers in front 35-34. DePauw extended their lead to six by the 10:08 mark on Cunningham's layup.
Kenyon was able to tie the game at 7:03 mark, but the Tigers responded to stretch the lead back to five, capped off by Fernitz's three-point play with 5:25 remaining.
The Lords would fight back yet again, tying the contest 58-58 with 4:36 on the clock.
With 2:40 remaining Fernitz made two free-throws followed by a layup from Frank Patton III, extending DePauw's lead back to four. Kenyon cut the lead to one with 33 seconds remaining. The Lords sent Fey to the line twice where he sank four free-throws to seal the victory.
Fernitz led all scorers, netting a career-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Dillon added 12 points, while Botts totaled 10 and Fey notched nine. The Tigers shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the floor including a 35.3 percent (6-of-17) mark from three and a 15-for-21 (71.4%) clip from the charity stripe.
Kenyon was led by Tim Connolly with 16 points, while Amador added 13 and John Bray netted 10. The Lords shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor, including a 7-for-18 (38.9%) mark from three and a 10-of-14 (71.4%) clip from the charity stripe.
DePauw held a 38-32 rebound advantage and had a dominant edge on points in the paint, outscoring the Lords 32-18. The Tigers also had a 49-25 edge on bench points.
The Tigers are back in action Wednesday, February 18, when they travel to Crawfordsville to take on conference rival Wabash College for a 7:30 p.m. contest. DePauw trails the Little Giants for third in league standings by just one game with only two regular season games remaining.