GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College men's basketball team leaned on its defense Wednesday night to keep up with The College of Wooster Fighting Scots at Tomsich Arena. The Scots, however, broke away in the second half to record a 75-55 North Coast Athletic Conference victory.

Kenyon (5-11, 2-7 NCAC) held Wooster to just 30 first-half points on just 14 field goals. The problem for the Lords was their own offense, which tallied just 23 points on 10-of-36 shooting (27.8 percent) throughout those first 20 minutes of play.

That deficit wasn't too much to overcome, though. The Lords scored the first eight points of the second half to gain a 31-30 advantage. Junior guard Matt Shifrin pumped in a pair of three-pointers and senior forward Phillip Crampton followed with a short-range jumper.

Wooster (12-4, 6-3 NCAC) responded with its own little burst, but a another Kenyon three-ball, this one from sophomore swingman Carter Powell, pulled the Lords back within one point, at 36-35, with about 16 minutes left in the game.

From that point on, the Fighting Scots pounded the paint and took control of the game. They went on a 14-5 run to open a ten-point lead. That margin held until the five-minute mark, as Wooster closed things out by scoring 15 of the game's final 18 points. Only Kiki Boyle's three-pointer at the final buzzer ended the Lords scoring drought.

Wooster put together that strong finish by working down low. The Scots scored 22 points in the paint during that 16-minute stretch and also tacked on eight free throws during that time. For the game, Wooster scored 42 points in the paint, while Kenyon managed 24. The Scots also controlled the boards, posting a 48-35 advantage over the Lords.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the Wooster big men racking up those numbers. The guard combo of Spencer Williams and Reece Dupler was able to penetrate and produce. Williams posted a game-high 23 points, while Dupler scored 14. Twenty-eight of their combined 37 points came in the second half. The two also combined to grab nine rebounds and serve up six assists. Senior forward Alex Baptiste pitched in with 12 points and nine more rebounds for Wooster.

Shifrin wound up draining four three-pointers and led the Lords with a 16 points, five assists and six rebounds. Powell scored a dozen and Crampton tossed in ten. Ben Stern and Alexander Powell both had five rebounds, while Will Sigl had four blocks and four rebounds.

The Lords struggled all night with their shot, going 23-for-66 (34.8 percent) for the game. They'll try to turn it around Saturday, when they hit the road for a 3 p.m. contest at Denison University.