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Salem

About the 2002 Division III
men's basketball tournament

Otterbein 87, DePauw 79
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — In front of a thunderous Rike Center crowd of over 2,900, Otterbein rode Jeff Gibbs to an 87-79 sectional final victory over DePauw and a trip to the Final Four.

Gibbs, player of the year in the Ohio Athletic Conference, poured in a career-high 37 points and tied a career high with 24 rebounds. He also collected five assists and blocked four shots. Gibbs hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor and hauled in half of his rebounds on the offensive end. He recorded his 28th double-double this season.

DePauw controlled play early, jumping to a 9-2 lead as Otterbein hit only one of its first nine shots. A quick 6-0 spurt gave the Cardinals their only lead of the first half, 18-17, at the 8:36 mark. DePauw answered with an 8-0 run of its own, and the Tigers led 38-32 at the break.

The second half belonged to Gibbs. One night removed from a 10-point, six-rebound performance in which he fouled out in only 19 minutes, Gibbs struggled from the field in the first half against DePauw. In the second half, however, he buried 10 of 12 shots from the field and seemed to get a hand on every rebound.

An 11-3 Otterbein run, seven of the points from Gibbs, early in the second half knotted the score at 45. Three and a half minutes later, with the score tied at 55, Kevin Shay buried a 3-pointer to ignite a 15-3 OC run that gave the Cardinals a 70-58 lead with seven minutes remaining.

DePauw would get as close as four, 83-79, in the final minute, but Otterbein hit 4 of 6 free throws from then on to seal the win.

Gibbs's monster performance led four Cardinals in double figures. Mo Ross scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting off the bench. Shay added 14 points and freshman Tony Borghese 10 for the Cards.

Sophomore Kyle Walton contributed six points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Otterbein.

DePauw placed four players in double figures. Joe Nixon led the way with 22, Joe Ringger added 20, Mike Howland 16 and Jeremy Bettis 14 for the Tigers, who close their season at 24-4.

Shay, Howland, Washington's Chris Jeffries and Randolph-Macon's Jamal Brunt were named to the all-sectional team. Gibbs was named most outstanding player of the sectional.

Otterbein (28-3) advances to next weekend's Final Four in Salem, Va.

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