DePauw used a 9-0 run over a 1:32 stretch of the second half and held off a late Rhodes rally to defeat the Lynx, 58-55. The Tigers improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Rhodes dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
DePauw led by as many as eight in the first half after scoring six straight on the way to a 30-24 halftime lead. The Lynx tied the contest at 34-34, but DePauw stretched the lead back to 42-36 after Tommy Weakley's layup with 10:43 left.
Theo Hartwell scored four straight and Shane Watson added a bucket to knot the score at 42-42 with 8:15 remaining. Following a timeout, the Tigers scored nine straight starting with Drew Wills' jumper. Wills hit a pair of free throws on the next possession before Sean Haseley converted a three-point play and Ryan Russel followed with a lauyup at 5:24 to make it 51-42.
Rhodes came right back as Luke Gorman hit three buckets to close the DePauw margin to 51-48 with just under four minutes left. Wills hit a pair of baskets to push the lead back to 55-48 with 2:11 remaining.
The Lynx were forced to foul late to put the Tigers into the bonus, but the Tigers were unable to convert the front end of a pair of one-and-ones. In between those two, Shane Watson's putback with 32 seconds left trimmed the lead to 55-50.
Haseley then hit a charity toss with 26 seconds left to give the Tigers a 56-50 advantage before Andrew Galow connected on two of three after being fouled on a three-point attempt to make it 56-52 with 12 seconds remaining.
DePauw missed a pair of free throw on the other end, but Rhodes was unable to connect on a three-pointer and Weakley knocked down a pair of free throws with three second left. Galow hit a running three-pointer from halfcourt for the final three-point margin.
Haseley led the Tigers with 16 points followed by Wills and Joe Bergfeld with 10 each. Bergfeld led the Tigers with seven rebounds and Russell had four steals.
Galow paced Rhodes with 13 with Gorman adding 12 and Watson following with 11. Hartwell led Rhodes with eight rebounds as the Lynx held a 33-30 advantage on the boards. Galow also dished out a game-high five assists.
The Tigers shot 46.9 percent for the game including 50 percent in the first half, while Rhodes shot 40.4 percent for the game.
DePauw returns to action on Saturday, December 11 when it hosts Trine at 2 p.m., while Rhodes travels to Rust on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. CST contest.