CHICAGO, Ill. (November 21, 2021) – The Denison University men's basketball team earned its first win of the 2021-22 season with a high-scoring 98-88 victory over Willamette University in the third-place game of the University of Chicago Midway Classic.
Four Big Red players finished with 16 or more points as
Darren Rubin scored 22 points,
Kevin Cheng had a season-high 18 points,
Ricky Radtke had a career-high 17 points and
Tyler Miller had a career-high 16 points. Radtke also finished with 15 rebounds for his first career double-double as a freshman.
After back-to-back contested 3-pointers by Rubin, Miller drove the lane and finished on the right side to cap off an 8-0 run and give Denison (1-4 overall) a 12-point lead up 44-32 with 2:15 to go until halftime.
However, Willamette (2-3) closed the first half on an 11-2 run to make it only a three-point Big Red lead (46-43) at the break.
Then to start the second half, Willamette got into within one twice in the first two minutes before back-to-back pullup, midrange jumpers by Rubin made it a six-point margin at 53-47.
It was only a three-point lead for the Big Red at 76-73 with seven minutes to go, but a nice pass by
Cameron Smith found Radtke wide open by the hoop for a lay-in, and then an offensive rebound by Smith led to a 3-pointer by Miller to make it 81-73.
Rubin then scored a layup to make it a double-digit lead, and then Radtke scored again to make it 85-73, equalizing Denison's largest lead of the game and capping a 9-0 Denison run with four and a half minutes to go.
Willamette, however, would not go away quietly and went on an 8-1 run to get back to within five points at 86-81 with two and a half minutes on the clock.
Fortunately, a very nice play on the ensuing inbounds by the Big Red saw Radtke hit the cutting Miller for a layup to make it 88-81.
The Big Red took advantage of 22 Bearcat turnovers, leading to a 28-15 advantage on points off turnovers for Denison.
Next up for the Big Red after the Thanksgiving holiday will be the start of conference play as Denison hosts Wabash College at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 28, inside Livingston Gymnasium.
