Senior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) scored a game-high 23 points as the Denison University Big Red knocked off rival Kenyon College 67-54 in a key North Coast Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday evening from Tomsich Arena in Gambier, Ohio.
After Kenyon jumped out to an early six point lead (9-3), Denison head coach Bob Ghiloni was forced to call a 30-second timeout. The DU skipper was able to light a fire under his team which resulted in a 9-2 run that featured a trio of three-pointers by Luther. The Big Red run forced Kenyon coach Matt Croci burn a 30-second timeout of his own. After the 20 minute seesaw battle, Denison entered the locker room with a 31-27 lead.
Luther scored 14 of the first 19 points for the Big Red. He finished the half with 20 points on 7-of-10 from the field and an astonishing 6-of-7 from three-point land. The senior's 20 first-half tallies moved him into 15th place on Denison's all-time scoring list.
In the second period the Lords quickly erased the deficit with an 8-2 half-opening run to knot the contest at 39-all with 16:32 left in regulation. The back-and-forth battle that consumed the majority of the first half resumed for the next 7:14. With the scored tied at 47-47, sophomores Brett Tiberi (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) each drained a three to put DU up by six points. The back-to-back treys sparked a 9-1 run that also featured a Luther triple and put Denison up 56-48.
The Lords were able to trim the margin to five points, but the Big Red's accuracy from long range coupled with a 3-for-5 performance from the foul line down the stretch proved to be too much for Kenyon to overcome.
Denison shot 40 percent from the field, while Kenyon finished the night 21-of-59 (36 percent). DU shot an impressive 10-of-21 (48 percent) from behind the arc. The Big Red turned 16 turnovers by the Lords into 15 points, while Kenyon only scored three tallies off 10 DU giveaways.
Luther shot 8-of-17 from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point land en route to his game-high 23 tallies. Freshman Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) chipped in 13 tallies in 36 minutes of play, while Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) added eight points and eight rebounds.
For Kenyon, A.J. Clair and Anthony Chun scored 15 and 13 points, respectively. Clair and Chun also pulled down seven rebounds apiece, while Dave Knapke finished with 10 points and a game-high 13 boards.
Denison improves to 6-16 overall and 6-7 in the NCAC, while the Lords fall to 5-16 on the year and 2-11 in the league. The Big Red returns to action on Saturday when they host Allegheny College on senior day. Tip-off from Granville is slated for 3 p.m.
