GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 4, 2021) – For the second game in a row, the Denison University men's basketball team trailed by double digits in the second half, but also for the second time in a row, the Big Red came back to earn the victory, this time securing a hard-fought 74-71 win at home over Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday.

Facing a 15-point deficit (55-40) with 14 minutes remaining, Denison went on a huge 12-0 run featuring six layups to make it 55-52 with 9:19 on the clock. John Faller had two steals and scored three layups in a row during the run while Freeman Brou accounted for two of the layups.

With just under two and a half minutes remaining, Denison trailed by five at 70-65 before the game-winning 8-0 run.

Ricky Radtke came up with an offensive rebound and layup to make it 70-67 with just under two minutes left, and then after a defensive rebound by Radtke, Will Hunter scored a layup to make it 70-69 with 1:12 remaining.

Then, after a defensive rebound by Hunter on the next possession, Hunter found Kevin Cheng open in the corner for a big 3-pointer to put the Big Red up by two at 72-70 with only 35 seconds left to play.

After the third miss in a row for Ohio Wesleyan on its next possession, Brou went to the free throw line and made his second attempt to make the score 73-70 with 17 seconds to go.

From there, Head Coach Chris Sullivan and the Big Red decided to foul and put the Battling Bishops on the free throw line with only four seconds left and no way to tie the game, and the strategy worked as OWU missed its second shot intentionally, and Darren Rubin added a free throw to make it a three-point game again with only three seconds left.

Five Big Red players scored in double figures in this one as Rubin had 13 points and nine rebounds while Faller added 12 points and three steals; Brou had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists; Radtke had 11 points and six boards; and Cheng had 10 points.

With its third win in its last four games, Denison improved to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while also snapping Ohio Wesleyan's three-game winning streak. The Battling Bishops dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-1 with their first conference loss of the season.

Next up, Denison will remain at home to host Hiram College at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, in what will be the final conference game of 2021 for the Big Red.