GEORGETOWN, Texas – In the first game of its brief winter-break trip, the Kenyon College basketball team suffered early turnover trouble and late shooting woes while the host Southwestern University Pirates capitalized to claim an 84-70 victory Monday afternoon at the Robertson Center.

The Pirates (5-6) were able to get separation early. Holding a 6-5 lead just three minutes into the contest, Southwestern rattled off a 12-2 run that spanned three minutes. Zach Whitlock kicked off the run with a free throw and wound up pouring in six more points during the spurt. Luke Hicks then canned a three-pointer at the 13:50 mark to cap the run with the Pirates holding an 18-7 advantage.

As the half unfolded, Kenyon got as close as eight points on several different occasions. Then, with 4:02 left, senior Ethan Shapiro buried a three-pointer to pull the Lords within seven (37-30).

The Lords shot the ball well during the first 20 minutes, but nine turnovers and 13 fouls put them in a hole they couldn't escape. The Pirates scored 13 points off Kenyon's first-half turnovers and maintained a six-point swing at the free throw line.

Trailing 45-34 at the half, the Lords cleaned up a few things and chopped the Pirates' lead down to five points four different times. The last of those four times came at the 8:37 mark when Ben Stern and Phillip Crampton converted back-to-back three-pointers.

When crunch time hit, Whitlock was once again there to pull the Pirates through. He scored Southwestern's next four points and increased the Pirates' lead to nine. A few minutes later, Ryan Ogden sank a three-pointer and sparked a 7-0 Southwestern run that locked things up for the Pirates.

After shooting nearly 45 percent in the first half (13-of-29), the Lords went cold in the second half, firing at 35 percent (13-of-37), including a 3-of-16 effort in three-point territory.

Bennett Grigull was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line and led Kenyon with 14 points. Alexander Powell added a dozen points and Shapiro finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Alex Laub led the squad with eight rebounds and freshman Cater Powell contributed seven points and seven more rebounds.

Whitlock ended up going 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of-10 at the free throw line to lead all scorers with 22.

Kenyon (2-9) will finish off its trip tomorrow with an 8 p.m. EST game against the Trinity University Tigers.