Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw cut Ohio Wesleyan's 15-point lead to two, but the Battling Bishops held off the Tigers for an 89-85 North Coast Athletic Conference win. The Tigers dropped to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the NCAC, while the Battling Bishops improved to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

DePauw held a 14-12 lead after Caleb Washington's jumper with 13:47 left in the opening half, but Ohio Wesleyan quickly responded with 14 straight as it hit four 3-pointers and a layup to grab a 26-14 advantage with 11:05 remaining in the half.

The Tigers clawed back to within two on a couple of occasions before the Battling Bishops closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 44-36 lead into halftime.

Ohio Wesleyan extended its lead to 15 at 61-46 on a pair of Henry Hinkle free throws with 14:53 left in the contest. The Tigers quickly closed the deficit to single digits after rattling off nine straight to make it 61-55 with 11:35 remaining.

DePauw was within two at 80-78 after Sam Jacobs scored with 1:35 left. Jake Lowman countered with a three to push the margin to five. The Tigers were unable to convert on the offensive end and Isaac Ward knocked in two free throws with 36 seconds left to extend the Battling Bishops' lead to 85-78.

The Tigers' Brady Kunka was fouled on a 3-point attempt on DePauw's next possession and buried all three charity tosses with 24 seconds remaining to close the gap to 85-81.

Hinkle's two free throws with 21 seconds left pushed the lead to 87-81 before Kyle Lillwitz nailed a trey with 15 seconds left to make it 87-84. 

The Battling Bishops were unable to convert the front end of a one-and-one and fouled the Tigers after the hosts secured the rebound. Kunka hit the second of the two free throws to cut the deficit to 87-85. DePauw sent Hinkle to the line where he made both free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win.

Jacobs led all scorers with 28 points including 25 in the second half, while Washington finished with 18 and Kunka 15. Jacobs, Kunka and Billy Bach each grabbed four rebounds with Lillwitz dishing out a career-high seven assists.

Hinkle led six Ohio Wesleyan double-figure scorers with 19 points, while Jessee Battle added 15 and Ward 14. Tony Carter finished with 12 points and seven rebounds with Phil Wallace and Lowman totaling 11 points apiece. Hinkle handed out nine assists.

DePauw shot 56.4 percent from the field to Ohio Wesleyan's 50.8 percent with the Battling Bishops holding a 29-28 rebounding edge.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 25, with a 2 p.m. NCAC game at Kenyon.