GRANVILLE, Ohio – A series of second-half three-pointers followed by a string of free throws led the Denison University Big Red men's basketball team to a 70-61 North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Kenyon College Lords on Saturday afternoon at Livingston Gymnasium.

Kenyon and Denison were tied, 30-30, at the half and the visiting Lords moved ahead early in the second half with a three-pointer from Matt Shifrin and a couple of free throws from Alex Cate. Denison, however, caught the Lords at 35-35 and then buried back-to-back three-balls from Claude Chamdonnet and Jack Coulter.

From that point, the teams went back-and-forth until the Big Red heated up from long range again. With 8:19 remaining in the game, Denison's Matt Doyle, Spencer Patenaude and Nate Haller strung together a trio of three-pointers that lifted the home team to a 55-45 lead.

Kenyon, now facing a double-digit deficit and dealing with less time left on the clock, was forced to start fouling. The Lords got within five points with about five minutes left, but the Big Red closed out the game by sinking eight of their last ten free-throw attempts.

Denison (2-5, 1-3 NCAC) finished the game 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from three-point territory and, despite a strong finish, was just 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) at the free throw line.

Kenyon (0-9, 0-4 NCAC) fired off 33 three-point attempts and sank 12, tying a season-high. Shifrin was 5-of-10 and Christian Watanabe was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Shifrin led all scorers with 19 points. Elijah Davis racked up 13 and Watanabe wound up with 11. Cate, who made a pair of three-pointers, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, only to be out-done by Carter Powell, who latched on to a game-high nine boards.

While Kenyon had four players reach double-digit point totals, Denison had just two. Haller finished with a team-high 11, while Matt Gerics chipped in with ten. The Big Red ended up spreading the ball around, as 11 different players recorded at least one point.

Denison won the rebounding battle, 34-27, and posted a huge advantage at the free throw line, where its 22 attempts dwarfed Kenyon's 5-of-9 showing for the game.

Up next for the Lords will be a non-conference contest Wednesday at Muskingum University, a team that lost to John Carroll University on Saturday and fell to 2-4.