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Kenyon College Athletics

Ugnius Zilinskas tied for the game high with 15 points as the Lords fell at No. 3 Wittenberg, 75-65.
Sejin Kim
65
Kenyon Kenyon 5-6,2-2 NCAC
75
Winner Wittenberg Witten 11-0,4-0 NCAC
Kenyon Kenyon
5-6,2-2 NCAC
65
Final
75
Wittenberg Witten
11-0,4-0 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Kenyon Kenyon 32 33 65
Wittenberg Witten 41 34 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

No. 3 Tigers prevail over Kenyon

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The third-ranked (D3Hoops.com) Wittenberg University Tigers remained unbeaten (11-0, 4-0 NCAC) after their 75-65 win over Kenyon College (5-6, 2-2 NCAC) on Saturday in a North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Pam Evans Smith Arena. 

Kenyon performed well, out-shooting the hosts in field goal percentage. However, turnovers (18-9) and a plus-nine free-throw advantage for Witt helped the Tigers remain perfect. 

Fans got their money's worth in the first half as the Tigers and Lords went back and forth. Carter Powell scored the game's first bucket before tying the contest at 4-4 nearly three minutes in. 

Following that tie, the Tigers earned their second lead on their next possession as Landon Martin sunk two free throws. That sparked a 14-6 run over the next four minutes for the hosts. 

Five different Tigers scored points with Jake Bertemes providing the final bucket of the stretch at 12:43. At that point, Witt led 18-10. Despite that spurt, Kenyon dug deep and responded. 

Back-to-back threes from Alex Cate and Christian Watanabe brought the score to 20-16. The Lords got another three-point play at 4:37 as senior Ryan O'Neil tied the game at 30 with an and-one conversion. Over the remainder of the half, though, the Tigers hit an 11-2 stretch to take a 41-32 lead into the locker room. In that span, Kenyon committed five turnovers and went 1-for-5 from the field. 

Down its biggest margin, the Lords quickly fought back early in the second stanza. Kamal Aubakirov hit two 3-pointers while Ugnius Zilinskas tallied five points and the Lords found themselves down 45-43 about four minutes in. 

A few possessions later, Cate's layup had the Lords down 52-47. After that shot, though, the Lords weren't able to keep pace. 

Witt went on a game-changing 11-0 run to seize command, 63-47. It made 5-of-7 while the Lords missed a trio of shots and turned it over twice. 

Zilinskas finished tied for the game-high with 15 points and added nine rebounds while O'Neil (14) and Powell (11) also scored in double-figures. Kenyon's 18 turnovers resulted in 14 points for the Tigers. 

Kenyon will return to action on January 8 when it hosts 24th-ranked College of Wooster (9-2, 3-1 NCAC) at 8 p.m.
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