Hanover College dominated play in the paint as they knocked off the Denison men's basketball team 69-57 on the final day of the Sodexo Classic.
Hanover opened the contest with seven unanswered points before taking an eight-point lead (11-3). The Big Red responded with a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 11-9 with 11:04 left in the opening period. Hanover answered the Denison run with a 10-0 burst of their own to build a 12-point advantage. The Panthers remained hot and eventually took a 28-14 lead after a three-pointer by Jake Inman.
Trailing 30-17 with just under two minutes left in the frame, first-year Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) caught fire to shrink the margin. After a Hale layup made it an 11-point game, sophomore point guard Casey Stockton (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) came up with a steal on the ensuing possession and found a streaking Hale for a fast break bucket. Hale came up big once again by grabbing a huge offensive board with 22 second on the clock and converting the second-change opportunity. The six-point spurt by Denison cut the deficit to 30-23 as the two teams headed into the locker room. Hale finished the opening 20 minutes with a team-leading eight points and three rebounds.
DU carried the momentum into the second half as they continued to battle and made it a 34-31 contest following a three by sophomore Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy). After the two teams exchanged buckets, Hanover went on an 8-0 run that spanned a little over three minutes which forced head coach Bob Ghiloni to call a timeout.
Unfortunately, the Big Red didn't really have an answer for Hanover's play down low. The Panthers used that advantage to maintain a double-digit lead for the remaining 13 minutes of regulation. Hanover outscored Denison 32-18 in the paint, and the Panthers held a 36-27 edge on the glass.
Senior guard Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) led all scorers with 19 points, while Hale finished with 12 tallies and nine rebounds. Junior Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) chipped in 12 points, and Garabedian added 10.
Forwards Mitchell Myers and Mike Case each posted 16 points to pace the Hanover offense. Myers also had nine rebounds, while Case pulled down seven boards.
Denison (0-3) returns to action on Tuesday (Nov. 24) when they travel to Case Western Reserve University. Tip-off from Cleveland, Ohio is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
