After a sluggish first half, the Denison men's basketball team controlled the second 20 minutes of play as they knocked off Earlham College in a key North Coast Athletic Conference contest.  With the win, the Big Red improves to 5-7 in the NCAC, while the Quakers fall to 1-11 in the league.

The teams went into the locker room tied at 26-26 following a three-pointer by Farmer with six second on the clock.  In the second half, Denison built on the Farmer triple and methodically built up a double-digit lead (43-33) five and a half minutes into the second session.

Now leading 43-35, DU rattled off 12 unanswered tallies as they jumped out to a commanding 20-point advantage half way through the period.  After a three-pointer by Brett Tiberi (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) kicked off the run, freshman Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) took the run over and scored six of the next nine DU points.  The Big Red would lead by at least 20 points for the majority of final nine plus minutes before taking home the 13-point victory.

Hale  led all scores with a career-high 26 points on 12-of-18 from the field.  He also grabbed six rebounds and recorded three steals.  Junior Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) notched his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards.

The Quakers were led by Matt Marsh's 19 points and A.J. Sutherlin's 11 tallies and eight rebounds.

The Big Red outrebounded Earlham 39-30 and scored 40 points in the paint compared to 24 by the Quakers.  DU also scored 24 tallies off Earlham's 17 turnovers and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.

Denison (5-16) returns to action on Wednesday (Feb. 10) when they travel to Gambier, Ohio to take on the Lords of Kenyon College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.