DePauw trailed visiting Centre by as many as 17 early in the second half and battled back to within four in the closing minutes, but the Colonels held on for a 62-54 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win.

DePauw dropped to 6-6 overall and 1-2 in SCAC play, while Centre improved to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

Centre scored the game's first seven points and quickly held a 16-4 lead with 12:46 left in the first half on the way to a 31-17 halftime lead. The first half shooting percentages told the story as Centre hit 50 percent to DePauw's 22.7.

The Colonels stretched the lead to 39-16 early in the second half with a 5-0 run, but the Tigers came right back with six straight of their own to trim the margin back to 11. Centre later extended the lead to 16, but DePauw put together a 10-3 stretch to close the gap to single digits at 48-39 with 6:32 remaining.

Centre still held a 55-44 lead with just over three minutes to play before Michael Wilkison hit a pair of free throws and Joe Bergfeld added a bucket with 1:51 left to make it 55-48. The Colonels missed a three-pointer on the next possession, but DePauw's Tommy Weakley buried a three to close the lead to 55-51 with just 1:08 remaining.

Greg Ross knocked down a pair of Centre free throws with 52 seconds left and the Tigers turned the ball over on the other end. Jeff Mullaney's two free throws with 44 seconds remaining pushed Centre's lead to 59-51.

Wilkison led DePauw with a career-high 15 points, while Drew Wills followed with 10. Bergfeld grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the loss.

Donovan Whiteside led Centre with 16 points and four steals, while Ross added 15 points and Mullaney followed with 12 points and four assists. Alex Lloyd grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as Centre held a 28-21 edge on the boards.

The Colonels shot 51.4 percent for the game and nailed 22-of-26 free throws, while DePauw connected on 34 percent from the floor.