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Kenyon College Athletics

Marius Mazeika
Graham Stokes
76
Kenyon Kenyon 5-16,3-9 NCAC
82
Winner Wooster Woost 16-5,8-4 NCAC
Kenyon Kenyon
5-16,3-9 NCAC
76
Final
82
Wooster Woost
16-5,8-4 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Kenyon Kenyon 33 43 76
Wooster Woost 40 42 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Owls late push falls short, Scots slip away

WOOSTER, Ohio – After an exciting week for the Kenyon College men's basketball team, picking up two overtime wins against two of the North Coast Athletic Conference's top contenders, the Owls took on another leading team on Wednesday night, squaring off against Wooster on the road. 

Although the Scots held a lead for most of the game, the Owls were able to keep it close and eventually cut the deficit to three with less than a minute to play. However, the home team hit crucial free throws in the clutch and slipped away with the win 82-76.

With 3:30 left to play, Wooster (16-5, 8-4 NCAC) hit a contested layup to go up 14 points, its second largest lead of the game, and it seemed as if the home team was going to slowly melt away the clock. On the contrary, Kenyon (5-16, 3-9 NCAC) turned around and fired perhaps its best offensive and defensive stretches of the game; a 15-to-4 run to get right back in the mix with 50 seconds to play. 

Marius Mazeika, fresh off of his first NCAC Athlete of the Week award, got the run started with a nice three pointer to set the score 64-75 with 3:14 remaining. After a Scots basket on the other end, Gefen Bar-Cohen nailed a craft layup, but two free throws on the other end kept the Wooster lead at 79-66.

Charlie Heywood sank two free throws on the next possession and after a steal by Mazeika, Jackson Maloney clipped a three to cut the lead to single digits as the Owls trailed 71-79 with 1:40 to play. 

Mazeika swiped another steal after that, this time leading to two more made free throws by Bar-Cohen,  who blocked a Scots shot on the next possession giving the Owls the ball back. Mazeika stepped up and drained a three in transition to set the score 76-79 with 50 seconds remaining. 

That three pointer, however, would be Kenyon's final points of the game, as the Owls missed all four three-point chances to stay in the game while Wooster hit a timely layup and a free throw on the other end to set the final 82-76.

In the first half, Wooster was able to grab an early lead thanks to some accurate shooting, starting the contest 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from the field and taking a 12-3 advantage five minutes into the contest. 

Kenyon responded with a 12-to-6 run nearing the midway point of the half, as Bar-Cohen led the stretch with four points, while Miles Versa and Jackson Burke splashed threes to set the score 15-18 with 11:39 to play in the first. 

Turnovers plagued the Owls in the opening frame, coughing the ball up nine times leading to 14 points for the Scots. Wooster soon opened up their biggest lead of the half, leading 38-27 with 2:30 remaining. A late three from Bar-Cohen and a nice layup from Sam Lieberman cut into the lead slightly, but after 20 minutes Wooster was up 40-33, setting up for the improbable comeback in the second half. 

Mazeika led the Owls with 23 points, marking the first time he's gone back-to-back games with 20 or more points in his collegiate career. Bar-Cohen finished with a strong 18 points, while Maloney hooped four threes for his 12-point outing. 

The loss drops Kenyon's record to 5-16 overall and 3-9 in the NCAC. The Owls will come back to Gambier and host Hiram on Saturday, February 7 at 4:00 pm. 





 
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