GAMBIER, Ohio – A three-point shooting binge, capped off by an improbable shot from senior Matt Shifrin, led the Kenyon College men's basketball team to a 79-77 upset of the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops on Wednesday night in Tomsich Arena.

The win was Kenyon's first in North Coast Athletic Conference play this season and halted the team's losing streak at 11 games. It was also Kenyon's first win against Ohio Wesleyan since the start of the 2000-01 season.

The Lords, who trailed by as many as 13 points in this game, rallied around three-point marksmanship. They went 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) in the first half and then 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) in the second half. Overall, the team's 60.0 percent shooting rate from long range was the sixth-best, single-game mark in program history.

Things started to heat up just before the half for Kenyon. Shifrin canned back-to-back threes and Alex Cate tossed in one more as the Lords chopped their deficit down to five points at intermission.

Another Shifrin three-ball snapped the net at the 15:50 mark and gave the Lords their first lead of the second half. Ohio Wesleyan, however, had an answer and moved ahead by eight points over the next four minutes.


A couple more long balls from Cate helped the Lords tie things up. Shifrin then drilled another from beyond the arc, giving the Lords a 69-65 advantage with 5:29 left on the clock. That Shifrin three-pointer included, the Lords converted four of their final three-point attempts during the stretch run.

The key shot of the game came with 51 seconds left and the Lords clinging to a 76-75 lead. As Kenyon was trying to run the clock down, Shifrin found himself with the ball in an awkward spot on the left wing. Realizing the shot clock was about to expire, he launched an off-balance three that boosted the Lords to victory.

Shifrin was 5-of-8 from three-point range and finished the game with 21 points. That improved his season total to 228 points and his career total to 962. Ugnius Zilinskas dialed up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Elijah Davis and Cate, who was 4-of-5 from long range, both scored 14.

Ohio Wesleyan (12-12, 7-10 NCAC) got 22 points from Gabe Johnson, 19 from Ethan Stanislawski and a dozen from Grant Gossard.

Kenyon (2-22, 1-16 NCAC) will finish off its season Saturday with a road game at Allegheny College.