Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – In its third home contest of the season, the Kenyon College men's basketball team finally got the win it longed for, defeating the Terriers of Hiram College 73-66 at Tomsich Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Brian Lebowitz led the Lords with 18 points while Kenyon used 13 Hiram turnovers to hold on for the win.
Lebowitz registered his third double-double of the season against the Terriers behind 18 points and 11 rebounds. Five of those rebounds were on the offensive side of the ball which led to three putbacks for the senior. He was one of the more successful Lords from the charity stripe, as well, hitting five of six free throws. He also had three blocks and a steal to add to his defensive output.
On a day where the Lords were cold shooting from three-point land, Lebowitz and his team's play on the interior was crucial in pulling down the win. After putting up 12 points in the paint in the first half, the floor opened up as the game progressed. Kenyon may have only shot 15.4 percent from behind the arc, but from the field they hit a combined 43.1 percent of their attempts.
Hiram scored the game's first five points out of the gate, but then succumbed to a 17-4 offensive run by the Lords that last nearly five minutes. Hiram's Josh Edmondson scored eight points in the first half to help trim Kenyon's lead to four heading into halftime and for a brief moment stole the lead from the Lords three-and-one-half minutes into the second stanza. However, the Lords responded with a 13-3 run featuring one of Jonathan Amador's two three-pointers and four points by Cooper Handelsman at the tail end of the stretch. After Handelsman hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on a shot attempt, Kenyon's lead grew to 10 points, but Hiram did not go away.
Edmondson kept at it with four successful free throws, and with help from three-balls by Aaron Stefanov and Chris Zurowski, the Terriers crept back to within three points of the Lords with 6:11 to go. Lebowitz then stole the show by hitting a pair of free throws and blocking J.J. Woodson's layup attempt, which led to another two points for Kenyon, bulking up their lead to eight, 60-52.
Ikenna Nwadibia helped calm the storm from Hiram, answering bucket for bucket with Woodson and Matt Roman to keep a seven-point lead heading into the final minute of play. From there, it was a foul and free throw shooting contest. Kenyon held on to win by seven, 73-66.
Of Kenyon's 73 points, 20 of those came off of 13 Terrier turnovers. Seventeen of those 20 came in the first half alone, keeping Hiram in a hole for much of the early stages. Kenyon's defense kept the Terriers caged up, limiting them to just 34.5 percent shooting on the night and only 19 percent from distance.
Nwadibia finished the game with 13 points, seven of those coming from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds, one assist, and one block. Nwadibia and Lebowitz were two of four Lords who finished scoring in double figures, joining Amador (10) and John Bray (12).
The win improves Kenyon's overall record to 3-4 and their conference record has now inflated to 2-1. Allegheny College serves as the Lords' next contest to be played at home on Dec. 10 with an 8 p.m. tipoff. Live coverage will be provided by the Kenyon Sports Connection at athletics.kenyon.edu.
