GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College men's basketball team will continue its remarkable season this Friday at the Timken Center in Wooster, Ohio. The Lords post up against the second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals for the right to compete for the conference championship. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Leading the way into Wooster for the Lords (16-10, 9-7 NCAC) will be the two-headed monster of Ikenna Nwadibia and Brian Lebowitz, who both rank among the best in the NCAC in various offensive and defensive categories.
Nwadibia ranks in the top five in the conference in overall scoring (400 points), points per game (16.7), and rebounds (231). The two-dimensional threat has notched 10 or more points in each of his last nine games, hitting the 20-point mark twice in that span. He ended the regular season with a string of six consecutive games with a double-double.
Lebowitz comes off one of his best games of the season after putting up his fourth double-double effort of the year behind 22 points and 12 rebounds in Kenyon's first-round NCAC Tournament win over the Wabash College Little Giants. The junior also resides in the top-10 in multiple defensive categories including steals (39, 4th), blocks (39, 3rd), and rebounds per game (7.2, 7th).
Kenyon's defense has largely contributed to its success this season and will be a major factor in its run through the NCAC Tournament. The Lords rank tops in the conference in steals per game (7.5) and second in blocks per game (4.0). The Lords' strong presence on the glass will both limit and create scoring opportunities as Kenyon ranks first overall in offensive rebounds per contest (13.6) and third in overall rebounds per game (37.4).
Ohio Wesleyan (20-5) stands in the way of the Lords' postseason run. The Battling Bishops are led by three-point shooting threat and team-leading scorer Taylor Rieger (14.0 ppg). Andy Winters serves as the down-low threat for OWU, averaging 13.3 points per game. Reuel Rogers' leads the conference in blocks and is one of two Battling Bishops to average better than six rebounds per contest. Ohio Wesleyan posts the second-best offense (73.3 ppg) and defense (62.5 ppg) in the NCAC.
The Battling Bishops previously defeated the Lords, 81-69, in their regular-season matchup on December 5. In that game, Nwadibia scored a game-high 18 points and was one of three Lords in double figures.
The College of Wooster, the tournament's No. 1 seed, will host the semifinal and finals. The Fighting Scots take on Wittenberg University in Friday's other semifinal game.
As mandated by the conference office, the price of admission for Tuesday's game is $10 for adults and $5 for children (18 and under), students without a college identification card, and anyone with an NCAC guest pass. Students from NCAC institutions will be admitted free with a valid student ID.
