HIRAM, Ohio – Junior Carter Powell scored a career-high and game-high 27 points but the Kenyon Lords (1-15, 0-9 NCAC) fell to Hiram College 91-80 on Wednesday night at Price Gym.
 
Hiram showed some serious depth as five different players scored in double figures including a team-high 22 from Jalen Kirksey who also dished out a game-high five assists. As a team, the Terriers were also extremely efficient at the foul line. They made 29 trips to the charity stripe and converted 21 of those, a season-high.
 
Competition was extremely tight as there were 12 ties and 11 lead changes throughout the contest.
 
About five minutes into the game, the score was knotted up at 9-9 before the Terriers hit a 12-4 run which was capped off by a Christian Crespo jumper. The Lords followed with a strong stretch to reclaim the lead.
 
Down 21-13, Kenyon climbed all the way back to take a 26-25 advantage following a layup from Christian Watanabe. The Lords extended that lead to five, 30-25, with 6:24 remaining after Kamal Aubakirov's bucket.
 
After Kenyon's response, Hiram found one of its own. The home squad scored six straight, and eight of the next 10 points, to take a 33-32 lead after Kirksey sank two free throws with 4:34 left. Over the remainder of the first half, the Terriers held that lead and took a 45-39 advantage into the locker room.
 
The offenses of both teams were very good in the first stanza as the Lords hit 51 percent while the Terriers connected on a 47-percent clip.
 
In the second half, Hiram's use of the foul line payed dividends as it hit 13 freebies, 10 more than the Lords.
 
Nearly seven minutes in, Kenyon had attained four-point leads on three different occasions. Its last came on a Ryan O'Neil jumper which brought the score to 61-57.
 
The score remained close after that, but Kenyon did have a few more leads. With about eight minutes left, Ugnius Zilinskas drilled a jumper to move the score to 71-69. A little over a minute later, Powell converted a layup to push Kenyon ahead again, 73-71.
 
After that though, the Terriers closed the game with a 20-7 run. Nine of those points came at the foul line and five more were made shots. For the Lords, they closed the final 6:52 of the game shooting 3-for-11 and hitting 1-of-4 at the foul line.
 
Kenyon will remain on the road for its next game. On January 19, the Lords will travel to DePauw University for a 3 p.m. conference tilt.