GAMBIER, Ohio – A complete team effort and late defensive stop allowed the Kenyon College men's basketball team to defeat Denison University 60-59 on Saturday in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play at Tomsich Arena.
 
The Lords improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the league while earning their first win at home against Denison since January 14, 2015. The Big Red slipped to 2-5 and 0-2 in the NCAC.
 
Ugnius Zilinskas led the team with 11 points while the Kenyon bench came up big. Eight other players scored at least four points and the Lords' bench ended up outscoring Denison's 32-14.
 
Within eight minutes of the first half, Denison had a slim 9-6 advantage after a fast-break layup from Matt Gerics. Kenyon responded on its next two possessions as three-pointers from sophomores Christian Watanabe and Kamal Aubakirov gave the Lords their first lead, 12-9, with 11:51 left.

 
After that, the two teams went back and forth. There were five combined lead changes and by the end of the half, a free throw from Kevin Cheng and layup by Freeman Brou gave the visitors a 25-24 halftime lead. Both team's defenses fared well, giving up no more than 33 percent shooting.
 
The score remained close until the Lords used a 10-0 run around the 12:29 mark of the second half. Leading 42-20, Ryan O'Neil drilled a three-ball to start the stretch. About three minutes later, newcomer Nick Lewis sank two free throws to push the advantage to 52-40.
 
That spurt allowed the Lords to stay in front comfortably until the final four minutes. After a Carter Powell jumper from the right wing moved the lead to 60-49 with 4:03 left, Denison began its rally.
 
Brou and Jack Coulter scored the next four points on free throws before Coulter hit two 3-pointers in the final 2:31. The last, with 1:28 left, brought the tally to 60-59. Kenyon could not find a bucket on its next two possessions which left the Denison one more chance. With two seconds remaining, Hunter Will got the ball in the right corner; however his runner from the right baseline missed long and Kenyon won.
 
The Lords had key advantage in free throws, hitting 10-of-13 (77%) while Denison shot a miserable 56 percent (14-25).
 
Next on the schedule for Kenyon is a home date against Westminster College (PA) on December 13 at 5 p.m.