GAMBIER, Ohio – Trailing by eight midway through the first half, Denison University erased a 20-12 deficit with a 17-2 run to take control and they never looked back en route to a 71-67 win over Kenyon College (8-14, 5-10, NCAC) Wednesday night in league play at Tomsich Arena.
 
Tim Connolly led the Lords with a game-high 21 points while hitting 3-of-5 from downtown. Sophomore Phillip Crampton came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points while Brien Comey filled with stat sheet with nine points, four rebounds and a season-high five blocks. Additionally, Will Sigl, making his first start of the year, added six points and five boards.
 
First-half action started in Kenyon's favor as the home team jumped out to a 7-2 lead after Sigl hit a jumper about three minutes in. Connolly later converted an and-one opportunity as he sliced through the right side and hit layup which moved the Lords' advantage to 20-12.
 
But after that, Denison (13-9, 8-7 NCAC) began to turn the tide of the game.
 
Down by eight, the Big Red hit a 17-2 stretch and took the lead at 24-22 after John Cheng drilled a three-pointer from the right wing with 5:27 left.  The Big Red extended their lead to as many as 10 points (36-26) late in the half before Matt Shifrin's runner at the buzzer brought the halftime tally to 36-28.
 
DU got its biggest lead (51-38) after another Cheng long ball a little over seven minutes into the second half before Kenyon rallied.
 
The Lords began chipping away at the double-digit deficit and with 3:38 left, Shifrin sank two free throws to put Kenyon up 63-62.
 
That advantage didn't last though as Denison followed on the next possession with a Darius White three-ball moving the Big Red back up 65-63. Both teams traded points on the next few possessions before Kenyon found itself down two again (69-67) with a chance to tie the game with 56 seconds left at the foul line.
 
Both attempts rattled out however and despite getting an offensive rebound on the second miss, a three-pointer from the corner by Connolly didn't fall and the Big Red added two more free throws for the final margin.
 
Next up for Kenyon is a trip to DePauw University February 13 starting at 1 p.m.