GAMBIER, Ohio – Wittenberg University got its low-post game rolling in the second half and earned an 87-67 victory over Kenyon College Wednesday night in a North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball matchup at Tomsich Arena.
 
The 17th-ranked Tigers remained unbeaten (12-0, 5-0 NCAC) while the Lords slipped to 4-8 and 1-4 in conference play.
 
Matt Shifrin led Kenyon with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting including a 4-of-8 performance from three-point land. Senior Alexander Powell added 12 points to round out Kenyon's double-figure scoring efforts. Additionally, Phillip Crampton and Alex Laub contributed eight and seven points, respectively.
 
In the first half, the Lords' offense was cooking as they hit 62.5 percent from the field and 50 percent from distance.
 
After spotting the game's first five points to the Tigers, the Lords came back to tie the affair at 9-9 following Shifrin's layup at the 16:25 mark. On the team's next possession, Ryan O'Neil floated a shot in the paint and watched it go through the basket giving Kenyon its first lead, 11-9.
 
The lead changed hands four times after that before Kenyon made a little push to go up six points. With the score tied at 25, Laub and Powell hit a pair of three-balls to give Kenyon its biggest lead, 31-25. By the end of the half, Wittenberg had battled back and trailed by two, 38-36.
 
Offensively, the Tigers were pretty efficient in the first half, but they were even better in the second when they turned to the pick-and-roll. Wittenberg outscored Kenyon 51-29 in the second stanza including a 24-8 advantage in the paint.  
 
With Wittenberg leading 57-55 after Will Sigl hit two free throws at the 11:33 mark, the Tigers reeled off a 17-2 run to seize command of the contest.
 
Eight of those points came in the paint while James Johnson and Rashaad Ali-Shakir hit a couple three-pointers. That stretch moved the score to 74-57 with just under seven minutes left. Kenyon shot just 1-of-6 during that span.
 
Overall, the Lords couldn't match their first-half output and shot 42.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three.
 
Kenyon will try to snap a six-game losing streak when they travel to DePauw University on January 6 for a 1 p.m. game.