GAMBIER, Ohio – A pair of three-pointers from Alexander Powell, as well as clutch free throws from Matt Shifrin and Phillip Crampton, propelled the Kenyon College Lords basketball team to a Saturday afternoon 61-55 home win against the Hiram College Terriers.

With Kenyon holding a 51-50 edge, Powell hit the first of his two three-balls and gave the Lords a 54-50 lead with 3:04 left on the clock. Over the next minute-and-a-half, Hiram sank 2-of-4 free throw attempts to shrink the margin to two points. Then, with 1:30 remaining, Powell drained another three, but Hiram's Kelvin Jones quickly answered to make the score 57-55 with 1:15 showing on the clock.

Kenyon missed its next field goal attempt and then got called for a foul that sent Jones to the free throw line, where he came up empty. Hiram was then forced to foul. With 23 seconds left, the Terriers put Shifrin on the line, where he made both of his shots. After another missed shot for Hiram, Crampton was fouled and polished off the game with two more Kenyon free throws.

The Lords defense swarmed to the ball throughout the game, causing the Terriers to shoot just 32.8 percent (19-of-58). Kenyon forced 15 turnovers, came away with seven steals and also blocked four shots. Additionally, Hiram fired at just 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from three-point range and did itself no favors by connecting on just 13-of-25 free throws (52.0 percent).



Jones, who entered the game as the second-leading scorer in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), was held to just 12 points, which was a team-high output shared with Joe Caspio. No other Hiram player scored more than seven points and the Terriers' final total of 55 points was a season-low for a Kenyon opponent.

Crampton and Shifrin each tossed in 14 points for the Lords, while Powell finished with eight. Powell also had six rebounds and Shifrin tacked on four assists. Bennett Grigull, who found himself in a bit of foul trouble, finished with seven points and six rebounds.

As the low score indicated, Kenyon didn't shoot all that well, either. The Lords, however, did connect on 10-of-15 free throws (66.7 percent), went 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) from long range and made the shots that mattered most.

Kenyon (4-11, 3-5 NCAC) only trailed Hiram for the first couple minutes of the game. An 11-0 run mid-way through the first half gave the Lords some breathing room. That spurt, which put Kenyon ahead 26-10 with 8:48 left in the half, featured three consecutive three-pointers from Ben Stern, Grigull and Crampton.

The Lords went ahead by as many as 17 points before settling on a 32-23 halftime lead.

In the second half, Hiram (6-8, 3-4 NCAC) worked the ball down low and slowly whittled away at the Lords' lead. The Terriers then put together a late 10-1 run that closed the gap to within one-point and set the stage for Powell's three-pointers.

Kenyon, now 4-2 at home, hits the road Wednesday for a game at The College of Wooster and then returns to Tomsich Arena on Saturday for a battle with Denison University.