Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 64, DePauw 61

Senior wing Vaughn Spaulding (Reynoldsburg) buried a critical 3-pointer, and junior guard Taylor Rieger (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) hit a pair of free throws down the stretch as Ohio Wesleyan held off a DePauw rally to take a North Coast Athletic Conference win in the Bishops' home opener on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

After the Tigers had taken a 51-48 lead in Michael Wilkison's 3-pointer with 9:26 left in regulation time, Ohio Wesleyan retook the lead with an 8-0 run.

Lay-ins by freshman post Claude Gray (Avon) and junior post Reuel Rogers (Columbus/Bexley) gave the Bishops the lead, and a dunk by junior wing Dre White (Lima/Bath) and another Rogers lay-in pushed the margin to 56-51 with 5:29 remaining.

Baskets by Tommy Fernitz and Barry Flynn brought the Tigers within a single marker, but Rogers hammered home a fast-break dunk with 1:46 left, and after Pat Haggin hit one of 2 from the line for DePauw, Spaulding knocked down a 3-pointer during the waning seconds of the shot clock to give Ohio Wesleyan a 61-56 lead with :22 remaining.

Michael Wilkison answered with a 3-pointer for DePauw, making it a 61-59 game with :12 left.

DePauw fouled senior post Marshall Morris (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) with :07 to play, and the gambit worked when Morris hit the front end of the one-and-one but missed the second, with Flynn clearing the rebound for DePauw.  Adam Botts was fouled with :05 left and hit both free throws, bringing the Tigers within 62-61.

The Tigers then fouled Rieger, who missed the front end of a one-and-one, but DePauw's Flynn was assessed a technical foul for making contact with the net while going for the rebound, and Rieger hit both free throws to give the Bishops a 64-61 lead with :03 left.

DePauw had one last chance after fouling Morris on the inbounds play.  Morris missed both charity tosses, with Pat Haggin grabbing the rebound for the Tigers, but Haggin's 3-pointer from beyond halfcourt hit the back of the rim.

Ohio Wesleyan had used an early 8-0 run to stretch an 11-8 lead into a 19-8 margin in just over a minute and a half.  Rieger and Gray hit 3-pointers, and White followed with a lay-in to give the Bishops a double-digit lead just under 7 minutes into the game.

Gray's lay-in midway through the first half gave the Bishops a 24-11 lead, and Ohio Wesleyan still led, 33-22, after Gray's 3-pointer with 2:14 to play in the period.

DePauw rallied behind the scoring of Connor Rich, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to bring the Tigers within 33-29 at the half, and a 7-0 run early in the second half, highlighted by a Wilkison 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Camron Burns, gave DePauw a 36-35 lead.

Gray led the Bishops with 14 points, while senior guard Andy Winters (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) finished with 13 points and a game-high 9 assists.  Morris grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and Rogers finished with 10 boards.

Wilkison led DePauw with 22 points.

Box Score