GAMBIER, Ohio — The Kenyon College men's basketball team returned home on Tuesday evening and delivered a thrilling finish inside Tomsich Arena, edging Baldwin Wallace University 77-75 to improve to 2-1 on the season. The Yellow Jackets drop to 0-5 with the loss.
Kenyon's starting unit set the tone from the jump, as all five starters reached double figures while the Owls shot a blistering 58.8 percent (30-of-51) from the field. First-year
Langston Foster paced the Owls with 19 points, two assists, one block, one steal, and a 4-of-6 mark from three-point range. Senior
Nick Nelson followed with 13 points and seven assists on a near-perfect 6-of-7 shooting, including the game-winning layup with just three seconds remaining. Sophomore
Marius Mazeika added 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists, hitting three triples of his own. First-year
Nicholas Graves stayed perfect from the floor with 10 points (4-of-4), while sophomore
Jackson Burke anchored the interior with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double and two blocks.
The opening half featured several momentum swings. Midway through the first half, both teams were neck and neck at 19 apiece. Kenyon held most of the momentum until Baldwin Wallace surged ahead, scoring 21 points in the final six minutes to take a 45-41 advantage into halftime.
After the break, the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to six, but the Owls responded with a composed offensive stretch highlighted by timely threes. Foster caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting four second-half triples, helping Kenyon regain control at 70-67. Mazeika added another dagger from long range shortly after, pushing the Owls ahead 73-67. Baldwin Wallace clawed back with a pair of twos and a trip to the line by Titus Baskerville IV before tying the game at 75–75 on an Isaac Richardson tip-in with nine seconds left. Kenyon, however, executed perfectly out of a timeout. Nelson drove the lane and finished through contact for the decisive basket with three seconds on the clock, sealing a gritty victory for the Owls.
Offensively, the Owls cashed in from deep at an efficient 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) while holding BW to 8-of-20 (40 percent).
The Owls now turn their attention to a weekend trip to Michigan, where they will compete in the Albion College Tournament. Kenyon opens play against the host Britons on Friday, November 21 at 7 p.m.
