Box Score MEADVILLE, Pa.  – Defense and clutch free throw shooting made the difference in the Kenyon College men's basketball team matchup against Allegheny College held Saturday night. The Lords made eight free throws in the overtime session while holding the Gators to just a pair of points, leading to Kenyon's sixth North Coast Athletic Conference win of the season, 61-53. Brian Lebowitz and Ikenna Nwadibia each tallied double-doubles, combining for 31 points and 22 boards at the David V. Wise Center.

Points were hard to come by for either team as time waned away in the second half. After Tim Connolly gave Kenyon (9-9, 6-5 NCAC) a two-point lead, 44-42, with his second of three three-pointers the remaining 9:31 of time saw just 16 points scored. Nwadibia scored the final points of regulation, tying the game at 51 with a layup with 2:03 still on the clock. Allegheny had three scoring opportunities the rest of way but was unable to cash in on any of them.

Allegheny's Ryan Stanko scored the opening bucket in the five-minute overtime session, but the Lords' defense clamped down from there and did not allow another point to the hosts. Lebowitz tied the game up at 53 apiece 1:29 later, which also marked Kenyon's only field goal in overtime. However, Lebowitz found his stroke from the charity stripe and hit six straight free throws in less than one minute. Eight of Kenyon's 10 points in overtime were recorded from the line. Not only did Lebowitz do his part from the stripe, but he also reeled in a key offensive rebound off of Brien Comey's free throw miss. Seconds later sent him back to do more damage from the line.

The Gators (3-16, 0-12 NCAC) went just 1-for-7 from the field and missed each of their three free throw opportunities in overtime. Their shooting took a dramatic drop after the first half, where they knocked down 48 percent of their shots. In the second, the Lords stifled the Gators' offense, holding them to just 31.3 percent shooting before icing them in overtime.

Lebowitz scored a game-high 16 points and added 12 rebounds, eight coming on the offensive end. Ten of his points were from the free throw line. The double-double marked his sixth of the season. Nwadibia also notched double digits in both scoring and rebounding, tallying 15 points and 10 boards.

Connolly scored 10 points, nine coming off of three-pointers, while also tossing in six rebounds. He now has three consecutive games with 10 or more points since seeing significant playing time against Wittenberg University on Jan. 22.

The Lords face a quick turnaround and will play Hiram College at their place as part of a rescheduled game from Jan. 25 that was postponed due to hazardous weather conditions. Game time is set for 2 p.m.