GRANVILLE, Ohio (January 15, 2022) – The Denison University men's basketball team returned to action for the first time in 35 days, and it was a great day as the Big Red earned their fourth conference win in a row and kicked off 2022 with an 82-74 victory at home over Allegheny College on Saturday afternoon inside Livingston Gymnasium.

In what began as a battle of two 4-6 teams, Denison led for over 36 minutes of game time and led by as many as 15 points at 36-21 with five minutes left in the first half.

The 15-point advantage came courtesy of a 12-2 run for the Big Red starting with a 3-pointer by Darren Rubin at the 7:19 mark in the first half.

The Gators, however, closed out the final five minutes of the first half on a 12-4 run to get back to within seven at halftime as a layup by Rubin in the final second before the break made it 40-33 Big Red.

Allegheny shot over 51 percent from the field in the first half despite trailing by seven, but then in the second half, both teams shot over 50 percent in what was a very competitive final 20 minutes.

After Allegheny tied the game at 42-42 less than three minutes into the second half, a layup by Ricky Radtke started a 9-1 Denison run that ended with a pair of 3-pointers by Kevin Cheng and Scotty Dean to make it 51-43 with just under 15 minutes left to play.

The Gators got back to within four at 53-49 with 13:44 left before seven straight points by the Big Red, ending with another three by Cheng, made it an 11-point margin at 60-49 with 12:30 remaining.

From there, Denison led by as many as 12 points twice while Allegheny never got closer than to within seven until the final minute and a half of the game.

After a layup by Allegheny made it a six-point game at 74-68 with 1:17 to go, the Gators began to foul to force the Big Red to win the game at the free throw line, and they did just that as Cheng, Will Hunter and Rubin combined to go a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the final 61 seconds.

In all, Denison was a strong 16-for-18 (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe.

Denison was paced by Rubin with 17 points while the Big Red had four players reach double-digits in scoring overall.

Hunter and Cheng both finished with 14 points while Radtke finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double as a freshman.

With the win, Denison improved to 5-6 overall and 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. In addition to being the fourth conference victory in a row for the Big Red this season, it was their third straight win at home as they improved to 3-2 inside Livingston Gymnasium, and it was the end of their four-game losing streak against Allegheny. The Gators, meanwhile, who entered the game not playing in the past 29 days, fell to 4-7 and 2-3, and have now lost three games in a row in conference play after starting 2-0 in the league.

In two days, Denison will hit the road for the first time in 2022 as they travel to Springfield, Ohio, to battle Wittenberg University at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 17.