GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's basketball team could not overcome foul trouble for its two leading scorers, falling 77-53 against The College of Wooster. The Owls fell to 7-14 overall and 0-12 against North Coast Athletic Conference competition, while the Fighting Scots improved their NCAC-leading record to 16-4 (10-2 NCAC).

Kenyon played most of the game without its two leading scorers, Gefen Bar-Cohen and Miles Versa, and the Owls could not muster enough offense to offset their loss. The sophomores came into the game with a combined average of 26.8 points per game, but they combined for six points and 10 fouls on the night and were both out of the game near the midway mark in the second half. Versa scored six points with five turnovers in 14 minutes, while Bar-Cohen went 0-4 in his 11 minutes of action.

Wooster took a quick three-point lead with a trifecta on their first possession, but the Owls responded with a 7-2 run to claim an early advantage of their own. Nick Nelson scored Kenyon's first four points before David Mazon III connected from downtown to put the Owls on top 7-5 with 15:48 left in the first.

Unfortunately, the two-point lead was the only time Kenyon held the edge. The Fighting Scots answered with a 14-2 stretch that put the visitors up double digits. Kenyon hung around for the rest of the half, thanks to their strong performance on the boards. The Owls outrebounded Wooster 8-1 on the offensive glass and turned the edge into a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points that helped cut the deficit to seven, 30-23, at the halftime break.

Wooster opened the second half with four quick points before a layup by Nelson made it a nine-point game, but the Fighting Scots did not look back after pushing their lead back to double figures. Wooster outscored Kenyon 43-28 the rest of the way while shooting an impressive 16-24 (66.7%) from the floor.

Kenyon had no answer for Wooster's interior attack, especially without Bar-Cohen's size, as the Fighting Scots outscored the Owls 46-20 in the paint. Nick Everett scored a game-high 20 points and added six rebounds, doing almost all of his work inside.

Kenyon was unable to capitalize upon 16 Wooster turnovers, seven more than the Owls, as the home team struggled to find the mark while shooting 18-53 (34%) overall, 7-25 (28%) from three, and 10-19 (52.6%) from the free throw line.

Jackson Kennedy led the Owls with 10 points, including eight in the second half, on an efficient 3-4 clip. Nelson scored nine of the 18 points that Kenyon got from its starting five while also grabbing four boards and dishing out two assists. Alex Boyd provided a spark off the bench late, chipping in eight points on three shots after swishing home two trifectas and making a contested layup.

Kenyon has a week to regroup before heading to Greencastle, Indiana, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, to take on DePauw University (14-7, 6-6 NCAC). The Owls' next home game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11, when Kenyon welcomes Wittenberg University (9-10, 5-6 NCAC) and celebrates Senior Day.