Kalamazoo erased an eight-point second-half deficit en route to a 75-66 victory over the Denison Big Red on Saturday afternoon from Anderson Athletic Center in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Despite falling into an early hole, Denison engineered an impressive 21-8 run spanning almost nine minutes of play.  Seven Big Red players scored during the offensive outburst that gave DU a 23-13 lead.  The Hornets battled back to tie the game at 32-32, but buckets by Alex Longi and Dimonde Hale put the Big Red ahead at the intermission.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Hale and a free throw by Longi gave Denison an eight-point advantage 59 seconds into the second period.  Once again, Kalamazoo tied the contest at 42-42.  DU regained a five-point lead on two separate occasions, but the Hornets evened the score both times.

Mark Ghafari's three-pointer at 6:41 gave Kalamazoo its first lead since 18:08 of the first half.  K-zoo went on to build a 67-59 lead with just over three minutes to play in regulation.  Senior Larry Farmer cut the deficit to five after converting an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:43 to go.   However, the Hornets held an 8-4 edge in scoring over the final 2+ minutes to secure the nine-point win.

Denison shot 43 percent (26-for-60) from the field, while Kalamazoo converted a 42 percent (24-for-57) clip from the field.  The Big Red held a 37-34 edge on the glass and a 38-24 advantage in the paint.

Hale finished with a game-high tying 24 points thanks to a 9-for-14 performance from the floor and a 6-for-9 day at the charity stripe.  Farmer also chipped in nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Brett Tiberi had eight points off the bench.

The Hornets were led by Joe Prepolec's 24 points and 17 tallies from Ghafari and Eric Fishman.  Prepolec also added nine boards and three blocks, while Grant Carey dished out five assists.

Denison falls to 3-5 on the year, while Kalamazoo improves to 3-3.  The Big Red closes out their Michigan trip on Sunday when they take on Albion at 3 p.m.