The Big Red knocked down 27 free throws and were 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in overtime and that helped Denison hold on for an 83-78 victory over Kenyon College on Wednesday night from Livingston Gymnasium.  The victory moves Denison's record to 4-2 overall and runs their winning streak to three games.

Denison held the lead from the 8:41 mark of the first half until midway through the second half when Kenyon's Kody Haddox knocked down a jumper.  That basket would spark the Lords and over the next five minutes they would build their lead to seven points with 6:38 to play.

Over the next three minutes momentum would swing back to Denison's favor and a layup by Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) with 3:31 to play tied the contest at 63-63.  On their next trip down the floor the Lords continued to hammer the offensive glass but a second effort by Haddox would be blocked by Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township), giving possession back to the Big Red.  After letting the shot clock trickle down, junior point guard Jim Leffew (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach), who played a game-high 42 minutes on the night, drilled his second 3-pointer of the game to put DU up 66-63 with 1:34 to play.  After both teams traded missed shot attempts, Haddox was there with another clutch moment, this time converting a triple-try from the right elbow that tied the game at 66-66 with 23 seconds to play.

After a Kenyon timeout the Big Red dribbled the clock down and junior Mike Garabedian (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) drove the lane and found Hale underneath the basket but he couldn't handle the pass as the ball rolled out of bounds off DU to force overtime.

In the overtime period Kenyon came out off the jump ball and was awarded a three-point play when Anthony Chun drove the lane and converted a layup off a tip pass from Marcus Healey.

DU came right back with a three-point play the old fashioned way when Hale sank a short jumper and was fouled by Brian Lebowitz.

With 3:24 to play and Denison trailing by one, Farmer made the play of the night when he snagged a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a one-handed dunk through a lane that parted like the red sea. Farmer's flush put DU back on top 71-70.

Fast-forward to the 1:06 mark, with the game tied at 76-76, Garabedian got the ball down low and just missed on a shot attempt, but that offensive rebound would be grabbed by Hale and the sophomore converted the put-back and was fouled to give Denison a 79-76 lead with 1:04 to play.  Over the final minute of play the Lords would miss six shots and DU would go 4-for-4 from the free throw line to clinch the victory.

Denison got 25 points and seven rebounds from Hale who finished 8-of-12 from the field and 9-for-14 from the free throw line.  Farmer followed with 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals in 39 minutes.  Garabedian was right behind with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Farmer and Garabedian combined to go 14-for-17 from the charity stripe.  Also reaching double-digits for Denison was Leffew who dropped in 12 points.

Haddox paced Kenyon with 23 points while going 9-for-24 from the field.  Marcus Healey finished with 14 points and Uros Vasiljevik chipped in 10 points before fouling out late in the second half.

Kenyon won the battle of the boards 42-36 and was excellent on the offensive glass, nearly doubling up the Big Red 23-12. For Denison, their 27 free throws made was the most by a Big Red squad since connecting on 29 free throws against Wooster on February 11, 2009.

The Big Red will return to action this Saturday when they travel to The College of Wooster to take on the No. 4 ranked Fighting Scots at 7:30 p.m.  At 4-2 this is the best start to a season by a Big Red squad since opening the 1997-98 season.