OBERLIN, Ohio – A tough night shooting resulted in a 72-64 loss for the Kenyon College (2-3, 0-1 NCAC) men's basketball team Wednesday night at Oberlin College in a North Coast Athletic Conference game at Philips Gym.
 
The Lords hit just 34.3%, a season low, from the field and were 12-of-21 (57.1%) from the free throw line which was also the lowest mark of the season.
 
Senior Tim Connolly nearly recorded another triple-double for Kenyon as he totaled a season-high 28 points while collecting a team-high seven rebounds and dishing out a game-high eight assists. The Lords' only other double-figure scorer was Bennett Grigull who tallied 12, a career-best.
 
Early first-half action saw both teams gain leads within the first six minutes of competition. The Lords went up 8-5 at the 14:40 mark following Alexander Powell's jumper. But after that, Oberlin responded with a massive run to take control.
 
Trailing by three, the Yeomen (5-2, 1-1 NCAC) started a 17-4 run with a three-pointer from Eli Silverman-Lloyd with 13:24 left in the half. Oberlin's lead ballooned to 22-12 by the end of the long stretch after two free throws from Jack Poyle with just under five minutes remaining. During the Yeomen's run, the Lords hit just 1-of-14 from the field.
 
The Lords battled back to cut the deficit to four (24-20) after a Connolly layup, but Oberlin scored a pair of three-pointers from Poyle and Nathan Cohen in the final 2:53 to go up 10 points (30-20) at the break.
 
In the second half, Kenyon improved their shooting from the field and the free throw line and was able to chip away at Oberlin's lead.
 
A little over 10 minutes into the second period, Connolly came away with a steal and breakaway layup to cut the deficit to six (48-42). Chris Link added a free throw on the next possession to cut the lead to five. Grigull had a chance to cut the deficit to three on the ensuing Lords possession, but his layup rimmed out.
 
Oberlin responded on its next two possessions with a three-ball from Zach Moo Young and dunk from Randy Ollie to move the home team back up 10 (53-43).
 
Kenyon came right back though to cut the deficit to five again (53-48) after another Connolly layup with 5:23 left. But that basket from the San Francisco native would be the closest Kenyon got the rest of the way. The Yeomen went up as many as 11 points in the final five minutes before eventually prevailing.
 
Next up for the Lords is a home date against Hiram College this Saturday starting at 3:30 p.m.