GAMBIER, Ohio – Junior Bennett Grigull racked up a career-best 24 points Saturday at Tomsich Arena and kick-started the Kenyon College basketball team's bid to upset Ohio Wesleyan University. The visiting Battling Bishops, however, outscored the Lords 49-30 in the second half and rolled to a 92-71 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) win.

The loss dropped Kenyon to 5-16 overall and 4-10 in the NCAC. The win was Ohio Wesleyan's eighth straight and bumped the Battling Bishops' records to 15-6 overall and 12-2 in the conference.

The disparity in the team's records didn't stop Kenyon from taking control early, as the Lords opened up a significant lead with sharp-shooting from long range. Over the first 20 minutes of play, the Kenyon men sank 8-of-11 three-point attempts (72.7 percent). Grigull alone was 4-for-4 on three balls. He scored 13 of the team's first 23 points and finished the half with 17 points, five rebounds and an assist.

During that hot start, Kenyon went ahead by as many as 13 points and held a double-digit advantage for about a six-minute stretch. Those margins were constructed on an early 14-0 run that included a trio of three-pointers from Grigull and then one more long ball from Ben Stern. That tear left the Lords with a 21-9 lead with 13 minutes left in the half.  

As a team, Ohio Wesleyan couldn't match Kenyon's outside shooting. Will Orr, however, nearly did it by himself. The OWU junior wing shot 6-of-7 from behind the arc and scored 20 points in 15 minutes of first-half work. In that same time span, the rest of the Battling Bishops were a combined 3-of-15 from the outside.

Orr's three-pointer with 6:14 left cut the Kenyon deficit to eight points. He went on to bury three more treys, including the last one of the half, during a 13-2 run that sent the Battling Bishops into the break with a 43-41 lead.

Five minutes into the second half, another three-pointer from Grigull tied the game at 51-51. OWU's Grant Gossard answered with a three and it was all Bishops the rest of the way. Over the next five minutes, Gossard scored 13 points, his only points of the game, and guided Ohio Wesleyan on a 22-2 run that sealed the outcome. The Bishops went ahead by as many at 25 and Kenyon never got closer than 18 points during the final ten minutes of the game.

Gossard was one of four double-digit scorers for Ohio Wesleyan. In addition to his 13 points, Orr tallied a team-high 22 and both Ben Simpson and Nate Axelrod scored 17.

Grigull, whose previous single-game best was 21 points against Allegheny a couple weeks ago, ended up shooting 6-of-14 overall, 5-of-6 from three-point territory and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. He also led the Lords with seven rebounds.

Senior Alex Laub was Kenyon's only other double-digit scorer. He tossed in 12 points to go along with five rebounds.