After a two week layoff from competition, Denison returned to the hardwood with an 80-76 victory over Earlham College on Monday night in Granville.

The Big Red pushed a six-point halftime lead out to a 14-point lead with 13:50 to play, and DU would maintain a double-digit lead until the waning minutes of the contest.

With three and a half minutes to play, Earlham's Kirk Douglas connected on a put-back after an offensive rebound.  That cut Denison's lead to 72-66. Back-to-back buckets by Briggs King gave DU an eight point lead but the pesky Quakers would make things interesting in the final seconds of the game.

With 11 seconds remaining, Alex Longi connected on a pair of free throws to put his squad up six.  Earlham's Michael Parker countered with a quick 3-pointer, making it a one-possession game with six seconds left.  Earlham would foul, sending Brad Woolard to the line with five second remaining.  Woolard would split the pair to clinch the four-point victory.

Four players scored in double figures for Denison as Longi led the way with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes.  In his first action of the season after spending the fall sememster studying abroad, King came off the bench to score 15 points while leading all players with 14 rebounds in just 24 minutes.  He also blocked three shots while going 6-for-11 from the field.

Freshman guard David Meurer tallied 16 points to go along with four steals.  Woolard rounded out the scoring leaders with 12 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes.

Earlham got 21 points and seven rebounds from Parker who went 8-for-10 from the field and was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.  Phillip Boone scored 13 points off the bench and Douglas ended with 12 points and eight rebounds.

DU connected on 28-of-69 shots (.406) and were 6-for-20 from 3-point range.  The Quakers also connected on 28 field goals but attempted eight fewer shots to finish at 46 percent.  Denison held a 44-36 advantage on the glass and committed only eight turnovers to Earlham's 12.  The Big Red managed to score 21 points off Earlham's 12 turnovers.

Denison improves to 4-6 overall with the victory while Earlham drops to 2-8.  DU returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 4) when they travel to No. 2 Wooster for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Fighting Scots.