With DePauw holding a 67-66 lead and Rhodes in possession of the ball, the Tigers' Jon Owens stole the ball from Rami Almefty with nine seconds left and hit one of two free throws with seven seconds remaining. Austin Lutz missed a potential game-tying shot with two seconds left.
DePauw started slowly by hitting just two of its first 15 shots, but sill trailed by just four at 11-7 midway through the first half. Rhodes still led by just four at 20-16 before going on a 9-0 run to take a 29-16 advantage with 1:54 remaining in the half. The Lynx went to the intermission with a 31-22 lead.
Rhodes maintained the lead in the second half and led 55-45 with 7:03 left after Lutz hit two free throws. John Gergely scored DePauw's next five points with the first three coming on a three-point play and the final two on a pair of free throws to close the gap to 55-50 with 6:00 left.
After Rhodes' Almefty hit two free throws at the 5:42 mark, DePauw knotted the score at 59-59 on Sakel's three-pointer with 3:52 left which capped a 9-2 Tigers run. Lutz's three-pointer with 2:33 left broke a 61-61 tie before Matt McDonald closed the gap to one with a layup. Almefty's jumper with 1:36 remaining pushed Rhodes' lead to three, but McDonald converted a three-point play with 1:08 left.
Kevin Campion missed a three-point that would have given Rhodes the lead, but Sakel hit one of two free throws with 25 seconds left to set up the final possessions.
McDonald led the Tigers with a career-high 11 points, while Sakel added 10. Almefty paced Rhodes with 25 followed by Joey Daly with 14 and Matthew Jakes with 12. Rhodes held a 32-22 advantage on the boards as Daly grabbed seven. Todd Capes led DePauw with four boards.
After shooting just under 30 percent in the first half, the Tigers connected on 65.4 percent in the second half to finish at 47 percent for the contest. The Tigers committed a season-low seven turnovers.
The win also was the 200th for DePauw head coach Bill Fenlon in his 12 years at DePauw. Fenlon became DePauw's all-time leader in men's basketball victories last February.
Newspaper Box Score Rhodes College vs DePauw University 2/15/04 1 pm at Neal Fieldhouse; Greencastle, Indiana At Neal Fieldhouse; Greencastle, Indiana DEPAUW UNIVERSITY 68, RHODES COLLEGE 66 RHODES COLLEGE (8-13, 4-9 SCAC) Rami Almefty 9-20 4-4 25; Joey Daly 6-6 2-2 14; Matthew Jakes 6-11 0-0 12; Austin Lutz 2-5 2-2 7; Kevin Campion 1-4 2-2 5; Justin Strong 1-1 0-0 3; Davis Bonham 0-0 0-0 0; Elliott Taliaferro 0-0 0-0 0; Tommy Orton 0-3 0-0 0; Mladen Mrkaic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 10-10 66. DEPAUW UNIVERSITY (15-8, 8-4 SCAC) Matt McDonald 4-5 3-3 11; Reid Sakel 3-5 1-2 10; Alex Stewart 4-11 0-0 9; Joey Hanger 2-4 5-7 9; Derek Lawrence 4-7 0-0 8; John Gergely 2-4 3-3 7; Todd Capes 3-7 0-2 6; Dre Smith 2-4 1-3 5; Jon Owens 1-3 1-2 3; Robert Davis 0-3 0-0 0; Wes Thornhill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 14-22 68. Rhodes College................ 31 35 - 66 DePauw University............. 22 46 - 68 3-point goals-Rhodes College 6-20 (Rami Almefty 3-9; Austin Lutz 1-3; Justin Strong 1-1; Kevin Campion 1-3; Tommy Orton 0-3; Matthew Jakes 0-1), DePauw University 4-15 (Reid Sakel 3-5; Alex Stewart 1-5; Todd Capes 0-1; Jon Owens 0-1; Robert Davis 0-1; Joey Hanger 0-2). Fouled out--Rhodes College-Davis Bonham, DePauw University-None. Rebounds-Rhodes College 32 (Joey Daly 7), DePauw University 22 (Todd Capes 4). Assists-Rhodes College 14 (Austin Lutz 7), DePauw University 13 (Joey Hanger 6). Total fouls-Rhodes College 19, DePauw University 13. A-350