GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 28, 2021) – The Denison University men's basketball team played a very competitive game, but ultimately came up short by a final score of 92-87 against Wabash College in its first North Coast Athletic Conference game of the 2021-22 season.

Denison (1-5 overall, 0-1 NCAC) scored at least 42 points while shooting at least 45 percent from the field in both halves while Wabash (3-2, 1-0) scored 46 points and shot over 54 percent in both halves.

Additionally, both teams shot over 40 percent from three for the game and grabbed 32 rebounds, and the teams combined for 19 3-pointers, but one of the small differences in the contest was Wabash going a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line compared to 10-for-14 shooting from the line for Denison.

It was also a great effort from a Denison team against a Wabash squad that was picked to finish second in the NCAC Preseason Coaches' Poll and was coming off a seven-point loss against the No. 3 nationally-ranked team in NCAA Division III followed by an eight-point win over the No. 13-ranked team in the country.

Denison dominated in bench points (43-6) while more than half of the points in the game came in the paint, where there was a slight 50-42 advantage for the Little Giants.

In all, the game featured nine ties and 13 lead changes, the last of which came on two free throws by Wabash to take a 75-74 lead with 4:26 left in the game. From there, Denison got back to within one point of the lead four times, but every time they did, Wabash had an answer on its next possession.

The final time Denison got back to within one was on a 3-pointer by Will Hunter to make it 84-83 with 1:39 remaining, but back-to-back layups by the Little Giants made it a five-point game (88-83) with only 32 seconds left to play.

A layup by Darren Rubin made it 88-85 with 22 seconds left, but Wabash was able to successfully salt the game away at the free throw line by going 14-for-14 in the second half and making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

Earlier in the second half, Denison led by as many as nine points up 69-60 after an and-one by Rubin with 9:37 to go. That was the end of a 15-2 run for the Big Red that started with them down by four (58-54) with 14:54 left and featured two 3-pointers by Hunter. From there, Wabash came back to take the lead on a 15-5 run ending with the two free throws with 4:26 left.

Rubin scored 24 points for the Big Red while Hunter added 14 in his season debut and Kevin Cheng finished with 11. Ricky Radtke and Freeman Brou both finished with seven rebounds and two steals while Brou also added two blocks and Radtke added five assists, all team-highs for Denison.

Next up for Denison will be its first conference game of the season on the road as the Big Red battle DePauw University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1, before returning home for two conference home games against Ohio Wesleyan University on December 4, and against Hiram College on December 8.