The Big Red offense came to life in the second half, but after a first half which saw the home team struggle to find the basket Hiram took advantage and pushed their lead out to 27 points midway through the second half, eventually resulting in a 71-62 victory over the Big Red at Livingston Gymnasium.

Denison freshman and current North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week, Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) scored the first 10 points of the game for the Big Red, on his way to a game-high 24 points.  Hale was 12 of 19 from the field and also finished with nine rebounds in 31 minutes of action.  Four of those opening 10 points of the contest came on back-to-back one-handed dunks by the high-flying freshman.  Hale has lifted his season scoring average to 13.6 ppg and has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games.

Hiram shot 51 percent from the field for the game and were led by Chris Roberts' 16 points and Glenn Campbell's 15 points.  The Big Red shot 45 percent from the field on the night and got 11 points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench from sophomore Josh Leuchtag (Houston, Texas/Lamar).  Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Twp.) posted his sixth straight game with 10 rebounds or more.  He finished with 10 boards and leads the NCAC at 9.3 rpg.

The Terriers edged DU on the boards 37-36 and both teams struggled mightily from the free throw line.  Hiram was 8 of 21 (.381) while the Big Red were just 5 of 16 (.313).

Hiram improves to 10-10 overall and 7-4 in the NCAC with the win while Denison drops to 4-16 and 4-7 in conference play.  DU will look to get back on track on Saturday when they travel to Richmond, Ind. for a 3 p.m. tip-off against Earlham College.  The Big Red defeated the Quakers, 78-68 on Dec. 12.