Junior point guard Jim Leffew (Vero Beach Fla./Vero Beach) banked in a 35-foot 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Denison University men's basketball team to a thrilling 65-62 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over 15th-ranked Wabash on Thursday night in front of a rowdy crowd at Livingston Gymnasium.  The victory marks DU's first win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 11, 2004.

Staring their second overtime game of the 2010-11 season in the face, Garabedian in bounded the ball to Leffew who quickly dribbled it past the half court line.  With time winding down, the junior threw up a 35-foot attempt that banked squarely off the backboard and rattled through the hoop.  The game-winning shot cleared both the Big Red bench and the student section as they all stormed the court to mob Leffew.

In the first half, Denison used a 7-0 game-opening run to build up their largest lead of the night at 21-8 with seven and a half to play.  The Little Giants slowly chipped away at the Big Red advantage, but an off-balanced jumper by sophomore Jon Akpapunam (Bowie, Md./St. Mary's) with two seconds left in the half gave DU a 28-24 lead as the two squads enter the locker room.

Wabash took their first lead of the night two minutes into the second half when Aaron Zinnerman knocked down a jumper to give the visiting team a one-point advantage, at 31-30.  Tied at 35-35 with 16 minutes left in regulation, the game turned into a classic one-on-one battle between DU sophomore Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) and Wabash senior Wes Smith, two of the NCAC's top scorers.  During their 11 minute duel, Hale, who ranks fourth in the league in scoring, accounted for 16 of the squads 19 points.  Smith, who leads the NCAC in scoring, stayed right with Hale as he rattled off 11 of Wabash's 18 tallies.

Leading 54-53, junior Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) drove the lane and executed a picture-perfect up-and-under layup to extend the Big Red lead back to three with five minutes left.  The Little Giants answered on their ensuing possession with a Derek Bailey lay-in.  With 2:47 left in the period, Ben Burkett knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the lead back to Wabash.

Down 58-56 with 62 seconds left in the contest, Hale earned a trip to the free throw line after drawing a foul under his own bucket.  The Northland High School grad knocked down arguably the biggest free throws of his career to tie the game at 58-58.

On the Little Giants' next trip down the floor, Smith split a pair at the line to retake the lead with 42 seconds on the clock.  In search of a bucket to regain the advantage, Alex Longi's (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) short-range jumper in the lane caromed off the iron and right into the hands of Brian Shelbourne.  Shelbourne hit both free throws to make it a three-point affair with 18 seconds left after DU was forced to foul to extend the game.

After crossing the time line, Big Red head coach Bob Ghiloni called a full timeout to draw up a play for the potential game-tying shot.  In bounding the ball in front of their own bench, Denison frantically tried to set up one of their hot-handed three-point shooters.  As time continuing to tick away, junior Brett Tiberi (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) dished the ball off to Leffew.  With three Little Giant defenders charging at him, the junior heaved a 3-point prayer that was answered, sending the DU bench and the Big Red fans into a frenzy.  Amidst the chaos, the referees whistled Wabash for a foul on Leffew in the act of shooting and the junior calmly converted the four-point play to regain a 62-61 lead.

Only needing to play tough disciplined defense for 4.5 seconds, the Big Red committed a potentially back-breaking foul prior to the in bounds pass.  Shelbourne, who sank two foul shots just 14 seconds prior, split the pair to knot the game at 62-62 setting up Leffew's game-winning shot.

Hale and Smith finished their epic battle with 24 points each in 39 and 38 minutes, respectively.  Hale was 10-for-18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds, while Smith went 8-for-19 and corralled six boards.  Leffew logged 18 points on 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.  Seven of his 18 points came in the final seven seconds of the contest.

In addition to Smith's 24 points, Burkett logged 11 points and eight boards, while Zinnerman logged 10 tallies off the bench.

In a very evenly played game, both Denison and Wabash shot well from the field.  The Big Red finished at a 44 percent clip, while the Little Giants converted 45 percent from the floor.  Both squads scored 32 points in the paint, while DU held a 34-29 edge on the glass.

With the win, the Big Red improve to 7-14 overall and 4-8 in the NCAC, while Wabash falls to 16-4 on the year and 8-4 in the league.  Denison returns to action on Saturday when they host Oberlin in a pivotal conference game.  Tip-off from Livingston Gymnasium is slated for 3 p.m.

UPDATED: Watch Jim Leffew's scintillating final 7 seconds (with audio play-by-play)