BEXLEY, Ohio (November 17, 2021) – Darren Rubin scored a career-high 31 points on six 3-pointers, but it came in a losing effort as the Denison University men's basketball team was unable to keep up with Capital University late in the second half, falling by a final score of 86-75 at the Capital Center Performance Arena.

It was a competitive first half featuring four lead changes as Denison's largest lead of the opening 20 minutes was a five-point margin up 23-18 after an offensive rebound and jumper by Freeman Brou eight minutes into the game.

Then after an 8-0 run for Capital, the fourth 3-pointer of the first half by Rubin tied it at 26-26 with less than nine minutes to go until halftime.

Rubin accounted for 21 of Denison's 40 points at halftime, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range. In all, both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half with six made 3-pointers.

Unfortunately, Capital started the second half on a 7-1 run to jump ahead by 14 points at 55-41.

Four minutes into the second half, a nice hook shot by Brou got Denison back to within single digits at 55-46, but Capital answered immediately with a 3-pointer on its next possession to make it 58-46.

With Capital ahead by 16 points at 67-51, Rubin connected on his sixth 3-pointer of the contest on six tries to make it 67-54 with 12 minutes left to play. Rubin then hit three free throws with 11:15 on the clock, and on Capital's next possession came up with a steal and a layup to get the Big Red back to within eight at 67-59 with 11 minutes to go.

A layup by Ricky Radtke assisted by Tyler Miller with nine minutes on the clock made it a six-point game at 70-64; however, Capital went on an 12-2 run over the next four and a half minutes go back up by 16 points at 82-66. Denison was only 1-for-10 from the field and was 0-for-4 from three during the run for Capital.

Rubin finally stopped the Capital run with a layup with 3:18 to go in the game, giving him 31 points on the night, before the Big Red ultimately fell behind by 18 at 86-68.

Rubin finished shooting 11-for-20 from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range while also adding eight rebounds.

Brou finished with 11 points on 50 percent (5-10) shooting from the field while Emmett Burnside led the Big Red with 10 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds.

Kevin Cheng added nine points while Radtke and Cameron Smith both had seven.

Denison's Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Sullivan said, "We got better tonight. We competed for 40 minutes and showed improvement from our first two outings - that's what it's all about night now for us. When this group fully commits to the defensive end of the floor and can start stringing some stops together, we'll put ourselves in plenty of ball games. That's where our focus will be as we head to Chicago this weekend."

This weekend, the Big Red will compete in the University of Chicago Midway Classic, taking on Ponoma-Pitzer at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time / 2 p.m. Central Standard Time on Saturday, November 20, in Chicago, Illinois.