After rallying from an 11-point halftime deficit and eventually taking a second-half lead, the Big Red found themselves down one with 2.9 seconds to play. With one final opportunity to win the game, David Meurer's desperation three came up just short as Denison dropped a heart-breaking 69-68 loss at DePauw in North Coast Athletic Conference action from Greencastle, Ind. on Wednesday night.

Things went from bad to worse for Denison over the final minute of the first period. Trailing by just four with less than a minute to play in the opening half, the Tigers' Luke Lattner drained a pair at the foul line to make it a 30-24 contest. Shortly after Lattner's free throws, the game was halted by an official's whistle. The stoppage sent the Big Red coaching staff into a frenzy, which eventually resulted in a pair of technical fouls on Denison. From those technicals, Lattner was able to turn a six-point edge into a 10-point advantage with four points at the stripe. Sophomore Andrew Castagnetti scored down low with seven seconds to play to cut the margin to eight, but a buzzer-beating three by Lattner gave the home team an 37-26 lead and all the momentum heading into the locker room.

Knowing there was plenty of game left to be played, 13-year head coach Bob Ghiloni rallied his troops during the intermission. Whatever Ghiloni said in the locker room worked as the Big Red came out on fire in the second half, opening the period with a 13-2 run over the first 5+ minutes that tied the game at 39-39. During that stretch, Denison went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc including back-to-back-to-back treys by Matthew Bauer, Meurer and Robby Weingart. The Big Red went on to outscore the Tigers 24-7 en route to building a 50-44 lead with 10:57 to play.

Over the next four minutes, DePauw would close the gap to one on a couple of occasions. However, the visiting team maintained a lead with timely 3-pointers from Brad Woolard and Weingart. Over the course of the opening 12 minutes of the second half, Denison went 8-for-12 from long range.

The Tigers finally pulled even at 60-60 with a Lattner layup. Meurer put the Big Red back in front at the charity stripe after drawing a Connor Rich foul, but a jumper from Bob Dillon tied the contest for the sixth time. With 1:44 on the clock, the home team grabbed its first lead since the 13:39 mark of the period on a Lattner layup. The Tiger lead would only last for 25 seconds as John Cheng found Darius White who buried a triple at the top of the key with 1:19 left in regulation.

Lattner and Bauer traded off buckets which allowed the visiting team to maintain a 67-66 advantage. Lattner would answer once again on the ensuing possession to retake a one-point advantage. DePauw added to its lead when Rich split a pair at the foul line with 27 seconds on the clock.

With 20 seconds to go, Ghiloni called a full timeout to draw up one final play. After moving the ball around the perimeter, Bret Woolard drove to the hoop and drew a foul with five seconds to play. Woolard calmly stepped to the line and converted the first attempt. The junior missed his second attempt, but the loose ball went off a Tiger which gave the Big Red one last chance with 2.9 seconds. Coming out of another Ghiloni timeout, Meurer corralled Bauer's inbound pass and tossed up a three that was unsuccessful as the clock turned to all zeros.

The Big Red shot 42 percent (24-for-57) from the field and 44 percent (11-for-25) from three-point range, which included a 60-percent clip (9-for-15) in the second period. The Tigers held a slight 36-34 edge on the glass and a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint. As a team, DePauw shot 54 percent (13-for-24) in the second half which resulted in a 43-percent conversion rate (22-for-51) for the game.

Meurer paced the Denison offense with 11 points, while King chipped in nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Cheng and Castagnetti each chipped in eight points, while Bret Woolard, who got into foul trouble early, logged just 13 minutes and scored seven points. Bauer also posted seven points.

Lattner led all scorers with 28 points, while Clint Cunningham provided 17 tallies off the bench. Dillon finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Mark Johnson also grabbed eight boards.

The Big Red falls to 10-8 overall and 4-7 in the league, while the Tigers move to 12-6 and 5-6 in league action. Denison returns to the court on Saturday when they host Wittenberg. Tip-off from Livingston Gymnasium is scheduled for 3 p.m.