Crawfordsville, Ind. - DePauw turned a 12-point deficit midway through  the first half at Wabash into a 14-point lead early in the second half and topped the Little Giants, 89-79, in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both schools. The Tigers improved to 5-2, while the Little Giants dropped to 3-2.

Wabash built an 18-6 lead with 9:58 left in the first half, but threes by Caleb Washington and Joe Smith cut the deficit in half just one minute later. DePauw still trailed by five at 27-22 before the Tigers closed the half on a 14-3 run to take a 36-30 lead into the intermission.

Washington and Eli Ellis hit threes to start the second half before Brady Kunka hit a pair of buckets to push the lead to 46-32. The Little Giants got as close as five at 64-59 but DePauw put together a 15-6 stretch to expand the margin back to 14 with just under six minutes remaining. Wabash was no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Kunka netted a career-high 21 points to lead four DePauw double-digit scorers. Washington totaled 14 followed by Smith was a career-best 14 and Sam Jacobs with 13. Reph Stevenson grabbed nine rebounds and Smith handed out six assists.

Nate Matelic led Wabash with 18 points  followed by Luke Ellspermann with 16, Gavin Schippert with 15 and Colton Stowers with 12. Ellspermann grabbed a team-high six rebounds and Ellspermann dished out four assists.

DePauw shot  a season-high 61.8 percent from the field and knocked in a season-best 12 3-pointers, while Wabash connected on 47.6 percent from the floor. The Tigers outrebounded the Little Giants, 38-28 and committed 15 turnovers to Wabash's six.

The Tigers host Kenyon on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.