Career Highs from Three DePauw Players Leads to Win over #18 Wabash

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Greencastle, Ind. - Behind career-high scoring nights from Nick Felke, Cole Jenkins and Aaron Shank as well as a season-best 63.5 percent shooting performance, DePauw topped 18th-ranked Wabash, 94-79, in Neal Fieldhouse. The Tigers improved to 15-7 overall and 9-6 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while the Little Giants dropped to 18-4 overall and 12-3 in conference play.

Wabash's only lead of the game was at 5-3 after Jack Davidson nailed a 3-pointer 2:50 into the contest, but the Tigers put together a 16-3 run to grab a 19-7 advantage with 11:02 left in the half.

The Little Giants were back within six later in the half at 28-22 before DePauw scored the next eight starting with a Felke layup and ending with threes from Jenkins and Felke to make it 36-22.  DePauw grabbed its largest lead of the half at 45-26 following a Felke free throw and the hosts went to the intermission with a 48-32 lead.

Wabash chipped away at the DePauw lead in the early stages of the second half and closed to within eight at 54-46 with 14:31 remaining following Davidson's layup. The DePauw lead was still nine at 61-52 before Matt Mahlke  knocked in a 3-pointer. Tyler Watson countered with a jumper before Jenkins scored a layup and Felke converted a 3-point play to push the lead to 69-54 with 10:43 left. That was as close as Wabash got the rest of the way.

Felke finished with 27 points and hit 11 of 13 from the field, while Jenkins totaled 20 on 7-of-7 shooting and added four assists. Shank rounded out the DePauw double-digit scorers with 13.

Davidson led all scorers with 40 points on 12 of 22 from the floor and 13 of 13 from the line to extend his Division III record free throw string to 80 straight. Harrison Hallstrom followed with 17 for Wabash.

Part of the Tigers' 63.5 percent shooting came on an 11-of-17 display from 3-point range against the team that ranked seventh in the nation in 3-point defense. The Tigers hit just 3 of 25 from 3-point range in Crawfordsville on January 16.  

DePauw held a narrow 25-23 edge on the boards as Andrew Kus led DePauw with four. Alex Eberhard and Halstrom each had five boards for Wabash.

The Tigers return to the hardwood on Saturday, February 9, wth a 3 p.m. game at Ohio Wesleyan.