Box Score DELAWARE, Ohio – The Kenyon College Lords basketball team struggled to find its mark Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena. The Lords shot at a rate of 33.8 percent (23-of-68), giving the host Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops enough room to win their season-opening game by a final score of 78-60.

Kenyon (1-2, 0-1 NCAC) took an early 7-5 lead on a three-pointer from senior Julian Pavlin, which was followed by a free throw from senior Brian Lebowitz at the 16:30 mark. Fourteen seconds later, Ohio Wesleyan's Matt Jeske canned a three-ball and put the Battling Bishops up for good. The Lords stayed within striking distance for much of the first half, but a 10-2 run by Ohio Wesleyan lead to a 41-29 halftime deficit for the Lords, who shot 33.3 percent from the floor and just 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from the free throw line over the course of those first 20 minutes.

In terms of accuracy, things did not get much better for the Kenyon men in the second half. They did shoot better at the line (6-of-7), but were 12-of-35 from the floor. From long distance, the Lords shot just 20 percent (3-of-15) for the game. Kenyon never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way and Ohio Wesleyan led by as many as 23.

Despite the off-night shooting, Kenyon's senior trio managed decent outputs. Lebowitz led the team with 14 points, while Pavlin and Ikenna Nwadibia each dumped in 13. Nwadibia also had ten rebounds to complete his third consecutive double-double and Lebowitz chipped in with another seven boards to go along with four blocked shots.

On the other side of the court, Reuel Rogers was a thorn in Kenyon's side. The 6-7 senior post just missed a triple-double by racking up 17 points, ten rebounds, and an OWU single-game record nine blocked shots. Taylor Rieger led all scorers with 20 points and Claude Gray added 18 for the Battling Bishops (1-0, 1-0 NCAC).

The loss was the second straight for the Lords who will try to bounce back Saturday in their first home game of the season. They'll host Muskingum University at 4 p.m.