GAMBIER, Ohio – After forty minutes of basketball at Tomsich Arena on Saturday afternoon, the DePauw University Tigers came out on top by knocking down their free throws to close out the Kenyon College Lords, 73-68.
With the game tied 68-68 and 46 seconds left on the clock, DePauw took possession of the ball and got it in the hands of Luke Lattner, the North Coast Athletic Conference's leading scorer. Before he could shoot, Lattner was fouled and sent to the line where he split a pair of free throws.
During the ensuing possession, Kenyon was called for a traveling violation and gave the ball back to the Tigers. Lattner was fouled again and this time made both free throws to give DePauw a three-point edge with just 17 seconds remaining.
At the other end of the court, the Lords were able to get up three potential game-tying three-point attempts, but two missed their mark and the third was blocked by Lattner. The Tigers then added two more free throws to finish off their victory.
Kenyon had led by as much as 11 points in the first half and carried a seven-point advantage (38-31) into halftime. The first half combination of
Bennett Grigull's 13 points,
Alex Laub's 10 and
Phillip Crampton's nine was enough to total more points, 32, than DePauw's entire first half output.
Grigull ended up scoring 22 to lead all scorers, while Crampton finished with 16 and Laub left the game with ten. Grigull also grabbed seven boards and dished out three assists. Senior
Ethan Shapiro matched those seven rebounds and also scored seven points on Senior Day. Additionally, fellow senior
Chris Link made his first start of the season.
Lattner led the way for the Tigers with 21 points. All of his points were scored in the second half.
There are two games remaining on Lords' schedule and the team remains tied with Allegheny College for the final spot in upcoming NCAC Tournament. The Lords will host their final home game Wednesday, February 15 against the College of Wooster at 8:00 p.m. That will be followed by the regular-season finale Saturday at Hiram College.
Junior Bennett Grigull scored 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out three assists Saturday,
but DePauw University made 5-of-6 free throw attempts late in the game to escape with a five-point win.
