Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – With a 76-68 Wednesday night win over the Hiram College Terriers, the Kenyon College men's basketball team vaulted up the North Coast Athletic Conference standings and better positioned itself for the possibility of hosting a conference postseason game.

Entering the evening, Kenyon and Hiram shared sixth place in the NCAC standings, while Denison University was one game better and owned fifth place. By the end of the night, losses for Hiram and Denison pushed Kenyon into a fifth-place tie with the Big Red, just one game behind third-place DePauw University and Wittenberg University. Eight teams make the NCAC tournament, but the top four earn the right to host first-round games.

To get to its current position, Kenyon (11-9, 5-6 NCAC) had to rally from a 32-30 halftime deficit against the visiting Terriers (10-10, 4-7 NCAC). That rally started when the Lords opened the second half of play with back-to-back three-pointers from Julian Pavlin. Jonathan Amador added another long ball and the Kenyon men claimed a 39-36 lead within the first two minutes following the halftime break.

Although Hiram moved within one point four different times and tied the score another four times, the Lords never fell behind for the remainder of the half. Pavlin, who finished with 15 points, scored 13 in the second half. Ikenna Nwadibia also turned it up a notch in the second half. He scored 14 of his game-high 18 points during the final 20 minutes. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to round out his sixth double-double of the season.

Eight of Nwadibia's 18 points came at the free throw line, where he has shown vast improvement. During the first ten games of the season, he shot 54.8 percent (46-of-84) at the line. Over the last ten games, Nwadibia sank 69.4 percent (34-of-49) of his free throws.

Additionally, the Lords received some excellent numbers from Brian Lebowitz. Despite getting in foul trouble and playing just 11 minutes of the second half, Lebowitz posted 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals.

Hiram's final threat came with 5:24 left in the game. That's when Aaron Stefanov sank a jumper to pull the Terriers within one point (62-61). Amador had a quick response for the Lords, though, as he buried a three-pointer, giving him nine points for the night. Kenyon then closed the door on Hiram by draining eight of its last nine free throw attempts.

Stefanov finished with 15 points for Hiram and Alan Sheppard went 4-of-9 from three-point range to net a team-high 16 points.