Connor Rich's first point of the day, more than 44 minutes into the game, turned out to be the deciding factor in DePauw's 65-63 North Coast Athletic Conference overtime victory over 22nd-ranked Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon on the Neal Fieldhouse floor.
Ohio Wesleyan gained the lead midway through the first half and held on to it until the Tigers battled back to tie the contest at 43-43 with just under eight minutes left in regulation. The Battling Bishops, however, started to pull away and led by as many as 10 on a couple of occasions with the last coming with just 3:06 remaining in the second half.
Barry Flynn scored six straight to close the gap to 61-57 with 1:07 left. On the Battling Bishops' next possession, DePauw guard Kevin Sullivan stole the ball just as Ohio Wesleyan brought the ball across the timeline. As Sullivan advanced the ball for the layup, he was fouled from behind with 55 seconds remaining.
The officials convened for a meeting before displaying an intentional foul call. Before Sullivan was able to go to the line to shoot a pair, Ohio Wesleyan's Vaughn Spaulding was called for a technical foul thus giving the Tigers an additional two free throws.
Michael Wilkison drained both of the technicals before Sullivan hit both of the personal foul tosses to knot the score at 61.
The Tigers also were granted possession, but Wilkison missed a three-pointer from the right wing with 29 seconds left. Adam Botts snagged the offensive rebound, but Flynn's jumper from the right side was off the mark and Ohio Wesleyan grabbed the rebound and time expired.
Heading into their second straight overtime game and third in January, the Tigers came out strong on the defensive end of the floor.
After 2:35 of scoreless play in overtime, Botts drove the lane, getting fouled on the way to the hoop. The Tigers took their first lead since 10:35 in the first half after Botts rattled home both free throws.
Ohio Wesleyan once again squared the game on a jumper from Taylor Rieger, his only non three-pointer of the game, with 1:12 remaining.
With under a minute to go and the score tied at 63, Rich fired a three-pointer off the mark and Spaulding grabbed the rebound. Wilkison again came up big as he stole the ball and gave the Tigers the ball with 29 seconds to play.
Calling their final timeout of the game, the Tigers came out of the huddle with the ball in the hands of Botts. With 12 seconds left in the game Wilkison came off of a ball screen and received a pass from Botts moving to his left. Wilkison drove down the left side of the lane and hit Rich on the left wing.
Rich pumped faked in the corner and drove hard toward the elbow, shooting a running jumper while moving to his right. Fouled in the process, Rich went to the line and hit both to give the Tigers a two-point lead with 4.6 seconds left. Rieger's three-pointer as time expired was off the mark.
Flynn led DePauw with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Botts followed with 12 points and Wilkison 11. Rich added four assists in the win.
Rieger paced Ohio Wesleyan with 23 points with Andy Winters chipping in 14 and a game-high six assists. Marshall Morris followed with 11 and shared rebounding honors with Spaulding as each had seven.
For the game DePauw shot 38.6 percent from the field and just 1-12 from behind the arc, while Ohio Wesleyan shot 38.1 percent and 9-22 from three-point range.
Ohio Wesleyan outrebounded the Tigers 41-34, including 17-12 on the offensive end.
DePauw returns to action on Wednesday, January 30 when it travels to Wabash for a 7:30 p.m. contest.