Sunday was a homecoming for Chicagoland natives Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Twp.) and Mike Garabedian (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and the pair brought plenty of smiles to the faces of friends and family in attendance as the Big Red rallied from a second half deficit to defeat The University of Chicago, 66-65.

Farmer finished with a game-high 29 points and Garabedian connected on five straight free throws inside the final two minutes of play to lead their team their second victory of the season.

With 9:45 to play in the second half Chicago's Chase Davis knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game, giving the Maroons their largest lead of the day at seven points.  Still trailing by six with just over three minutes remaining, Garabedian drilled a critical 3-pointer off a feed from junior point guard Jim Leffew (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach).

After a Chicago turnover, Farmer was fouled and sent to the line where he connected on a pair, cutting the Chicago lead to one with 2:40 to play.  The Maroons would go on to miss their lay-up try at the other end and Denison's Alex Longi (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) came up with the the rebound and was fouled by Chicago's Davis.

Longi would miss the front end of the one-and-one but teammate Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) was there for the big offensive rebound.  He quickly found Garabedian who was open for three but Chicago's Tom Williams closed out on Garabedian and was whistled for a foul in the act of shooting.  Garabedian calmly stepped to the free throw line and swished all three free throws to give his team their first lead since late in the first half.

The Maroons would respond with a 3-pointer by Williams, taking back the lead at 65-64 with 1:47 to play.  On their next possession Garabedian would be fouled again by Williams and the junior, with ice in his veins, hit another pair to take the lead back at 66-65.

The final seconds for the Big Red would be stressful ones as the Maroons missed on three consecutive 3-point tries that could have given them the victory.  The final shot, taken by Chicago's Tommy Sotos at the buzzer, was off the mark and Denison escaped the windy city with their second win of the young season.

Farmer was brilliant, going 10-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.  His 29 points were a career high.  He also led the squad with nine rebounds in 35 minutes.  Garabedian finished with 12 points and a 7-for-7 performance from the charity stripe.  Hale chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.

Chicago (1-2) was led by Matt Johnson's 14 points.

Denison will return to Granville to host Case Western Reserve at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 23).