Michael Romes scored 19 points with 10 of those coming in the second half as Mount St. Joseph held off the Denison Big Red, 57-51 on Sunday afternoon from the Harrington Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Big Red trailed by six points at the half and remained within striking distance throughout the 40 minutes of play.  In the second half, trailing by six with just over one minute to play, senior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) converted a 3-point play after being fouled by Mount St. Joe's Kyle McCord.  Now trailing by just three points, the Big Red forced a defensive stop at the other end when Travis Huffman missed a shot in the paint that was corralled by sophomore guard Brett Tiberi (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington).

Denison was led by sophomore Mike Garabedian (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) who scored 11 points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds in 37 minutes.  First-year Dimond Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) came off the bench to score 11 points in 26 minutes.

Following Romes' 19-point effort for MSJ was Huffman who finished with 10 points.  The Lions edged DU on the boards, 37-34 and held a 10-6 advantage on the offensive glass.

The Big Red will open North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday (Dec. 5) against Wabash College at 3 p.m. from Livingston Gymnasium in Granville.