PHOTOS

RICHMOND, Ind. – Hot shooting in the second half propelled DePauw to an 80-74 victory over the Earlham College men's basketball team in the season-opener for the Quakers on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tigers shot 53.2 percent (20-32) in the second half as a team. In addition, Luke Lattner tallied all 27 of his points in the second 20 minutes of play.

Despite DePauw's blistering shooting percentage, the Quakers found themselves trailing by just eight midway through the second half. Earlham then connected on four straight three-pointers to tie the contest 52-52 with 10:51 to play.

Two baskets from Lattner put the Tigers up four points, but senior Taylen Alexander and freshman Darrell Hutchison team up to tie the game once more – 58-58 with 6:53 to play.

The 9-0 run from DePauw in the next two minutes proved to be too high a mountain to climb for Earlham. The Quakers got as close as seven points at 69-62 off of an Alexander jumper.

Lattner and Jack VandeMerkt led the way for DePauw with 27 and 24 points respectively. VandeMerkt helped the Tigers hold a 42-31 rebounding edge as he grabbed 21 rebounds individually.

Alexander and Hutchison finished with 20 and 18 points each to lead the Quakers in defeat. Junior Kamari Hunter chipped in 10 points and three assists while junior Kyle Smith added eight points and dished out five assists.

Earlham did win the turnover battle as the Quakers tallied 20 assists and 12 turnovers while forcing DePauw into 20 team turnovers.

The Quakers stand at 0-1 on the season and look for their first win on Sunday against Oberlin. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.