Dimonde Hale scored 17 points and Larry Farmer added 12 rebounds as Denison earned its first victory of 2011-12 with a 72-61 win over Earlham College on Sunday from Livingston Gymnasium.

The Quakers proved a dangerous opponent for the Big Red due in large to their quick trigger from long range.  It would take roughly 35 minutes but DU would eventually bottle up Earlham enough to move to 1-2 on the year.

There were 15 lead changes in the contest and Denison held a 33-30 advantage at the intermission.  In the first half Denison got a lift from Jon Akpapunam who scored nine points via three, 3-point field goals.

In the second half, the game remained tight through the first 10 minutes of action.  With 11:42 to play, after a 3-pointer by Justin Barger, Earlham's Dustin Rusk would give their squad its first lead since the 4:35 mark of the first half.

Another basket by Rusk would again give Earlham the lead with 9:09 remaining but Denison would respond, first with a three point play from Alex Longi, and then back-to-back buckets from Hale.  Farmer would close out a 9-0 run for the home team with a basket down low, putting the Big Red up 57-49 with 6:29 left.

From there Denison would open up a double-digit lead en route to the victory.  Hale was 6-for-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line on his way to a 17-point day.  He also added six rebounds in 29 minutes.  Farmer scored only five points but was active with a season-high 12 rebounds to go with four steals and three assists. 

Longi was 6-for-8 from the field for a season-high 14 points in 27 minutes.  Akpapunam would add a fourth 3-pointer in the second half to finish with 12 points.

Earlham was led by Colton Bragg's 21 points while Josh Green chipped in 13 points in 21 minutes off the bench.

Denison shot 47 percent from the field and was 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.  Earlham connected on 41 percent of its field goal tries and were 9-of-30 from 3-point range.  The Big Red nearly doubled-up the Quakers on the boards, outrebounding them 42-24.

Denison will return to action on Tuesday (Nov. 22) when they travel to Cleveland, Ohio for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Case Western Reserve.