GAMBIER, Ohio – Up against the No. 5-ranked team in the nation, the Kenyon College Lords held their own throughout the first half of Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference basketball game. The visiting Wittenberg University Tigers, however, scored 47 second-half points and left Tomsich Arena with an 83-63 victory.

The win was Wittenberg's sixth in a row and it improved the Tigers' records to 20-1 overall and 13-1 in the NCAC. The loss, Kenyon's fifth in a row, dropped the Lords to 6-15 overall and 3-11 in conference competition.

Kenyon opened the game with a Ryan O'Neil steal and fast-break layup. The play sparked an impressive start for the Lords, who later went on a 7-0 run that gave them a 17-10 lead about eight minutes into the game.

Over the next eight minutes, Kenyon used a balanced offensive attack to maintain the lead. Ugnius Zilinskas scored nine first-half points, while Carter Powell and O'Neill each dropped in seven. As a team, the Lords shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) over those first 20 minutes of action.

Wittenberg never trailed by more than seven points and it stayed on Kenyon's heels by draining half of its 12 three-point attempts. James Johnson connected on one of those three-pointers to pull the Tigers within one point. A steal and layup from Jake Bertemes on the next possession gave Wittenberg a 25-24 lead with 4:43 left on the clock.

Kenyon answered with a three-ball from O'Neill, but, after tying things up at 32-32, the Tigers scored the final four points of the half and went into the break with a 36-32 lead.

That four-point difference then ballooned to 14 as the Tigers started the second half on a game-changing 12-2 run that spanned six minutes. During that Wittenberg run, Kenyon's offense faded, making just one of its first nine field goal attempts and turning the ball over three times.

Kenyon got its deficit back down to nine points a couple of times midway through the second half, but that was as close as the Lords would get.  Wittenberg shot 56.5 percent (13-of-23) in the second half and made 17-of-19 free throws to pull away for good.

Wittenberg had four players post double-digit scoring totals. Johnson was 5-of-8 from long range and led all players with 20 points. Connor Seipel scored 17 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Bertemes added 13 points and Landon Martin tacked on 10.

Zilinskas scored 18 and racked up six rebounds for Kenyon. Powell had 13 points and nine rebounds, while O'Neil finished with nine points.

The Lords' next game is set for Wednesday night at Hiram College. Back on January 22, the Lords, playing in their home gym, defeated Hiram, 72-61.