Kenyon Kenyon 7-5,1-2 NCAC

Denison Den 8-4,3-0 NCAC

Kenyon Kenyon

7-5,1-2 NCAC

Final

Jan. 03, 2026

Denison Den

8-4,3-0 NCAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Kenyon Kenyon	24	38	62
Denison Den	37	38	75

Summary
Box Score

Khaliun Ganibal

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/3/2026 5:37:00 PM

Kenyon drops first game of 2026 to Denison

GRANVILLE, Ohio – Playing in its first game of the new year and its third the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC this season, the Kenyon College men's basketball team took on Denison University on Saturday afternoon on the road.

Despite a season high effort from sophomore Marius Mazeika, the Owls ultimately didn't have the firepower off the glass or in the paint to keep up in the end, falling to the Big Red 62-75.

Kenyon came out with more energy in the opening minutes, taking an 8-4 lead over four minutes in, which proved to be the team's largest of the day. Jackson Burke led the Owls in the stretch, netting five points with a three pointer as the team shot 3-of-5 (60 percent) from the field to start.

Denison took the lead later in the quarter as part of a 25-16 run in which the team forced three turnovers and shot 80 percent (4-of-5) from beyond the arc. For Kenyon, Mazeika paced the team with two triples and eight total points to set the score at 29-24 Big Red with five minutes to play in the half. An 8-0 Denison run to close the first put the Owls behind 24-37 at the break.

After the break, Kenyon did its best to cut into the Big Red lead, firing triples from Burke, Langston Foster and two from Mazeika but Denison matched the team's advances, only ceding one point for a 37-49 score with 15 minutes to play.

Junior Nick Valentino stepped up off the bench to lead the Owls down the stretch in the half, netting 8 points with three made field goals, a season high. Mazeika added four more and although Kenyon shot 60 percent in the middle portion of the half, eight points was the lowest the team could shrink the lead, trailing 54-66 with five minutes in regulation.

A 50 percent shooting effort and four more points from Mazeika came in the final minutes, but Denison kept up every step of the way, eventually sealing a 75-62 victory.

For the game, the Owls trailed in rebounds (26-to-35) and bench points (17-29) despite keeping up in field goals (23-to-29) and three pointers (8-to-5), the former proving to be difference makers. Mazeika's season high effort ended at 23 points and four threes, complemented by 14 points and a team high seven boards from Burke.

Kenyon's record drops to 7-5 and 1-2 in the conference with the loss. The Owls will now endure the rest of the grueling stretch of 14 straight NCAC games, the next coming on Wednesday, January 7 at 7:00 p.m. on the road against The College of Wooster.

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