ALBION, MICH.--Missed opportunities against another quality opponent on the road spelled bad news for the Tigers. For the third straight game, the DePauw men's basketball team ran into a strong opponent and for the third straight game the Tigers had problems putting the ball in the basket. That combination resulted, for the third straight game, in a loss. The Tigers fell to 0-3 after Tuesday's 69-52 loss at 3-0 Albion.
"We had good shots," Head Coach Bill Fenlon said. "When you play three games in five days and go on the road against a good team and shoot 33 percent you're not going to win many games."
The Tigers fell behind early as the Britons scored the game's first six points. Matt Bowers scored DePauw's first bucket at the 16:11 mark, but Albion responded with another bucket 11 seconds later. Albion still held a 10-4 lead before Ryan Hooker nailed a three-pointer and Jason Kreag hit a free throw to cut the margin to 10-8 with just over 13 minutes left in the half. The Britons maintained a four-to-six point lead most of the half, but the Old Golf cut the margin to one at 20-19 with 2:43 left on Matt Gorrell's jumper. Albion responded to the challenge with six straight points to take a 26-19 halftime lead.
The Britons opened the second half with a pair of baskets to cap off a 10-0 run and take their biggest lead of the game at 30-19 with 18:29 left in the second half.
"That was big because we missed some layups and open shots in that stretch which could have made things different if we came out and cut into the lead," Fenlon said.
After a Gorrell layup cut the deficit to nine, Albion scored 10 of the next 14 points to expand the margin to 15 at 40-25 with 14:56 left. The Tigers got no closer than 11 and Albion led by as many as 19 on three occasions.
Albion shot 68 percent from the floor in the second half with several coming on layups. The Tigers, meanwhile, continued to be plagued by poor shooting as they connected on just 33 percent from the field.
Ben Geerling, Albion's 6-10 center led his team with 21 points and nine rebounds, while TyQuan Lenyard added 15 points and five assists.
"For the third straight game an opposing post player had a big night," Fenlon added. "Overall I thought our defense was okay. Before we had to foul them in the last couple of minutes, they had only scored in the high 50s. That's where we want to be." Other double-figure scorers for the Britons included Eric DuFort with 12 and T.J. Carnegie with 10. DePauw was led by Ryan Hooker and Gorrell with 11 points each.
The Tigers play at home for the first time on Sunday when they host
Millikin for a 3 p.m. contest.