GAMBIER, Ohio – Facing the difficult task of trying to upend the No. 12-ranked Wittenberg University Tigers, the Kenyon College men's basketball team turned in a solid showing before falling 82-70 in Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference contest at Tomsich Arena.

The Lords, who trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half, twice sliced their deficit to six points in the game's final minutes.

With 2:54 showing on the clock, Kenyon junior Carter Powell knocked down a jumper to make the score 74-68 in favor of Wittenberg. The Tigers missed free throws at the other end, but Kenyon failed to capitalize, missing its next three shots.

The teams then traded buckets on their next trips down the floor and Wittenberg tacked on one more field goal to make it 78-70 with 1:05 remaining. Kenyon's last-ditch efforts to catch up resulted in a pair of turnovers and a missed shot. Wittenberg sealed the victory with a couple of free throws and a layup with 27 seconds remaining.

Kenyon put itself in striking distance by piecing together a 27-9 run that spanned nearly nine minutes of the second half. During the run, Powell poured in 10 points, junior Ryan O'Neil scored nine and freshman Elijah Davis tossed in eight. Both Powell and Davis hit a pair of three-pointers during the rally.

O'Neill ended the game with a season-high and team-high 17 points. Powell and Davis each finished with 14 points. Powell also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

The Lords shot a season-best 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the floor and that included a 37.0 percent performance (10-of-27) from long range.

Kenyon fared well in the early stages of the game, too. The Lords built early leads of 7-2 and 15-6 within the first six minutes of play.

Wittenberg turned things around at the 13:35 mark with a three-pointer from Levi Boettcher, who sparked a 12-0 run, giving the Tigers a 16-15 advantage. Using 13 first-half points from Boettcher, the Tigers started to pull away and made it to halftime with a 43-30 lead.

Boettcher did not score again for Wittenberg, which pumped in shots at a rate of 51.6 percent (32-of-62) for the duration. James Johnson wound up leading the Tigers with a game-high 18 points. He also snared nine rebounds. Connor Spiel chipped in with 12 more Wittenberg points and eight rebounds.

The win moved the Tigers' records to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in NCAC play. The loss dropped Kenyon to 0-11 and 0-5 in the conference. The result also signaled the end of the calendar year for the Lords, who will not play again until a January 3 road game at Waynesburg University.