Denison rebounded from its first loss of the season by edging Beloit, 96-95, on Sunday afternoon at the University of Chicago Tournament.

The Big Red regained a double-digit lead with just over five minutes to play when junior Bret Woolard took a pass from sophomore David Meurer and buried a three-pointer. The Buccaneers answered on the ensuing possession when Steve McAfee knocked down a triple of his own. Denison's lead was shrunk to five following a pair of Alex Hade free throws just three seconds later.

With two minutes to play, senior Brad Woolard gave DU a 94-87 lead after connecting on both his free throw attempts. On Beloit's next trip down the floor, Andrew Bremner pulled down an offensive board following his own miss and converted the second-chance opportunity cut the deficit to five at 1:39. Exactly one minute late, McAfree drained a three-pointer off an assist from Michael Gulve to pull within two at 94-92.

Needing to extend the game, McAfee sent Brad Woolard to the line with his third foul of the contest. The senior post was successful on both attempt to rebuild a four-point lead. Bremner scored on the front end of his trip to the foul line. However, the sophomore guard missed the second attempt and Robby Weingart came down with the defensive rebound. The senior wing threw a long outlet pass to Bret Woolard who went up for a dunk. However, the bucket was waved off and Woolard was whistled for a technical foul which gave the Bucs two shots at the charity stripe and the ball.

Gulve knocked down both attempt at the line to close the gap to 96-95 with nine seconds to play. Following a 30-second timeout by Beloit, Rudy Bentley missed the go-ahead layup. Meurer came up with the defensive board with one second to play to secure the Denison's fourth win of the year.

Trailing by five midway through the first half, the Big Red outscored the Bucs 31-15 over the final 9:38 to take a 50-39 lead into locker room. Denison went on to lead by as many as 14 points on four separate occasions in the second half before Beloit made their second-half charge.

DU finished with a blistering 62-percent (36-for-58) conversion rate from the field, highlighted by a 20-for-29 (69 percent) clip in the first half. That performance is the second-best by a Big Red team dating back to the 2000-01. Denison's 36 field goals made were also the fourth-most during that time frame. The Big Red held a 16-10 advantage in fastbreak scoring and a 34-31 edge in points off the bench.

The Woolard twins led DU with a combined 47 points and 15 rebounds. Brad finished with a career-best 26 points after going 8-for-12 from the field and 10-for-12 at the foul line. He also pulled down eight boards. Bret went 9-for-12 from the field en route to scoring 21 points. The junior also grabbed seven rebounds. Meurer also chipped in 16 points and 13 assists, while junior Darius White scored 15 points and dished out five assists. White finished the game 5-for-9 from the field and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Meurer's 13 assists are the most by a Denison player since the 2000-01 season. He finished the game four shy of the school record held by Steve Scott (1975-76).

Beloit shot 56 percent (37-for-66) from the field and held a 34-31 edge on the glass. The Buccaneers also outscore DU in the paint 52-46. McAfee led all scorers with 33 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Bremner chipped in 13 points and five boards, while Hade and Laramie Wieseman each added 11 points.

Denison improves to 4-1 on the year, while the Bucs fall to 2-3. The Big Red returns home on Wednesday to open North Coast Athletic Conference play against DePauw University. Tip-off from Livingston Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.