Ohio Wesleyan got 24 points from Tim Brady and 14 rebounds from Marshall Morris and that was just enough to hold off an ever-improving Denison Big Red squad who battled back from a 13-point second half deficit before falling 70-67 to the Battling Bishops from Branch Rickey Arena.
Denison trailed 56-43 with 8:53 to play in the second half but would go on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the Bishop lead to two with five minutes to play. With 1:50 left in regulation Denison freshman Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland), who led the way with 20 points, converted a transition basket off an outlet from Brett Tiberi (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and was fouled in the act where he went to the line and converted the three-point play, giving DU their first lead of the game at 62-61 with 1:50 to play.
OWU's Pat Pellerite would split a pair of free throws after being fouled by Denison's Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Twp.), then, after a missed 3-pointer by Chris Luther at the other end, Brady delivered the shot of the night, a 3-pointer off a feed from Dillon McBride that lifted OWU to a 3-point lead with just under a minute to play.
Despite trailing by five with nine seconds left DU nearly pulled off a miracle comeback. It started with a Tiberi 3-pointer with four seconds left on the clock. Now trailing by two points, the Big Red immediately fouled Pellerite on the inbounds pass where be proceeded to make the first free throw, giving OWU a three point lead, but miss the second. The rebound went to Farmer who took off toward the other end of the floor. With only 2.4 seconds left on the clock when the free throw was missed, Farmer didn't have a lot of time to get off a quality shot. He took three dribbles and let off a prayer from midcourt that connected but officials quickly waived off the shot, ruling that the ball had not left his hand before the final horn.
It was another heartbreaker for the Big Red, who fall to 3-10 overall and 3-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Hale led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) added 11 points and four boards while Farmer had another outstanding all-around game with 10 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and 3 blocks in 34 minutes.
Also joining that trio in double-figures was freshman Jon Akpapunam (Bowie, Md./St. Mary's) who set a new career high for the second-straight game with 10 points off a 4 of 5 shooting performance.
The Battling Bishops held a 44-34 edge in rebounding and both teams committed 12 turnovers apiece. In fact, both teams shot a nearly identical percentage from the field. DU was 23 of 57 (.404) and OWU was 23 of 56 (.411).
OWU was led by Brady's 23 points. Pellerite added 14 points and eight boards while Morris chipped in 9 points and 14 rebounds.
Denison's next contest will be on Wednesday (Jan. 13) when they host Wittenberg at 7:30 p.m.
