WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster erased a 15-point deficit over the final 12 minutes of the game and defeated Kenyon College 81-79 on Wednesday night in a North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball contest at Timken Gymnasium.
 
Wooster improved to 20-4 and 14-3 in NCAC play while Kenyon dropped to 7-17 and 4-13 in the conference.
 
Matt Shifrin led the Lords as he tied his career high with 23 points. He hit 6-of-9 from deep in the process. Ben Stern added 11 points while Phillip Crampton came off the bench to contribute 10. A total of nine players scored as least five points for Kenyon who shot 65 percent from three-point range tying the third-highest mark in program history.
 
The first half was close throughout. Within the game's first 13 minutes, there were four ties and seven lead changes. Wooster's biggest advantage came at 10:54 as Blair Blake hit a three-ball moving the count to 14-9.
 
The Lords quickly erased the five-point deficit as Ryan O'Neil started a 6-0 stretch with a three-pointer. A couple possessions later, Ugnius Zilinskas sank a free throw pushing the visitors back in front 15-14 at the 9:30 mark.
 
A few minutes went off the clock and Kenyon found itself down again, this time 18-17 after an Alex Baptiste jumper at 7:12. After that shot though, Kenyon took control.
 
Another 6-0 run was started by a Carter Powell jumper with about five minutes left. O'Neil added a layup on the next possession before Matt Shifrin scored pushing the Lords ahead 23-18.
 
On Kenyon's next possession, leading 23-20, the team found another run to go up double digits. A Shifrin long ball capped off a 13-6 stretch at 1:06 moving Kenyon up 36-26. By halftime, the Lords led 36-29.
 
In the second half, the Lords ballooned their lead to as many as 15 points on three separate occasions. Their last came at 12:10 after Alex Laub hit a free throw bringing the score to 55-40.
 
At the 8:28 mark, Kenyon still led by double digits, 65-55, after senior Alexander Powell scored a layup. That's when Wooster began to make its run.
 
Over the next 5:56, the No. 16-ranked Fighting Scots mounted a 14-4 run to tie the game. Kenyon shot 1-for-9 in that span while Wooster shot 4-for-7 and converted five free throws.
 
With the score tied, Crampton hit a fade away jumper from the left block to push Kenyon back in front 71-69. However, two Wooster possessions later saw Danyon Hempy hit a contested three from the corner. Down by one, 72-71, the Lords turned the ball over on their next two possession and watched as Wooster scored another basket to move ahead 74-71.
 
The Lords were not able to overcome those turnovers as the Fighting Scots hit some free throws down the stretch to aid in their win.
 
Next on the schedule for Kenyon is Senior Day on February 17 at 3 p.m. against Hiram College at Tomsich Arena.