Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 77-72 win over the Wabash College Little Giants, Tuesday night.

Brian Lebowitz lit up Tomsich Arena with a team-high 22 points as part of a double-double effort in the Lords' first postseason victory since 2009. Kenyon's 16-4 run to open the second half of play helped hold off the Little Giants as free throw shooting and rebounding became the factor late in the victory.

Kenyon held on to a three-point lead, 32-29, going into the locker room and burst out to a 17-point advantage with help from Ikenna Nwadibia. The junior guard scored half of the team's points while on the run, hitting 4-of-5 shots from the free throw line and scoring the remainder in the paint. Nwadibia put the Lords up 50-33 with 12:49 remaining after scoring the final seven points of the rally.

After taking a game-high 18-point lead, Wabash began chipping into the deficit, trimming the Kenyon lead to just nine points with 4:16 to go. The Little Giants hit seven straight foul shots, five by Ross Sponsler, to help in the comeback. Sponsler capped off the rally with a short-range jumper off a Wabash miss bringing the score to 67-58.

With less than two minutes to go, Wabash made one final push again supported by the team's solid free throw shooting. Sponsler spurred a 9-0 Little Giants run with a layup and on their next possession, four offensive rebounds gave Daniel Purvlicis an opportunity to cut the lead to 10 points, 72-62. Purvlicis completed the run with another short-range jumper off his own miss before the Lords' defense clamped down for the final 1:21.

As time waned on the short clock during the Lords' ensuing possession, Lebowitz recorded his biggest of 12 rebounds on the evening on the offensive end to keep the ball in Kenyon's hands. He was fouled while trying to bring the ball out of traffic, but sank both free throws to increase Kenyon's lead to seven points with 40 seconds remaining. Sponsler helped create a one-possession contest with a long-range bucket with under 10 seconds to go, but Jonathan Amador solidified the Kenyon's win with a pair of free throws, leading to a 77-72 final score.

The win marks the first postseason victory for the men's basketball program since the 2008-09 season when the Lords defeated Wittenberg University, 65-60, in their first-round NCAC Tournament matchup on Feb. 24, 2009. It also marks the most wins in a year (16) since that same 2008-09 season.

Kenyon (16-10) surpassed its season scoring and shooting percentage marks in its win over Wabash. Paced by Lebowitz's 8-for-14 shooting night, the Lords shot nearly five percent better than their seasonal average (.406) after hitting 45.5 percent of their attempts from the field. The Lords came into the contest averaging 66.7 points per game, but overshot that mark with its 77 in Tuesday night's game.

Lebowitz led all scorers with 22 points and posted his fourth double-double of the season with a complementary 12 rebounds, six on the offensive end. It marked the second straight contest that he has recorded 20 or more points and the third time this season doing so. Lebowitz also put up a season-high five blocks.

Nwadibia joined his teammate in double-figure scoring, putting up 14 points. John Bray,  Amador, and Brien Comey both pitched in eight points and shot a combined 8-for-15 from the field. Julian Pavlin chipped in six assists on the offensive side while recording four steals and one block on defense.

Kenyon, the No. 3 seed in the NCAC Tournament, now moves on to play  No. 2-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University. That semifinal game will take place Friday evening at the College of Wooster.