GRANVILLE, Ohio (January 26, 2022) – The Denison University men's basketball team fought to overtime on a last second make in regulation and then led by four in the overtime period before ultimately falling 75-72 against DePauw University on Wednesday night inside Livingston Gymnasium.

It was a game that featured a little bit of everything, including a make from beyond half court by Will Hunter just before the buzzer to end the first half, and a game-tying layup by Ricky Radtke with only 0.6 seconds left in regulation.

Both teams shot over 49 percent from the field and 40 percent from three for the game, missed only three combined free throws, and shot over 50 percent from the field in regulation.

DePauw (6-9 overall, 3-6 North Coast Athletic Conference) started off the game with nine straight points, went on another 9-0 run early in the second half to take a 49-40 lead with 12:49 on the clock, and then led by as many as 11 points at 57-46 with 9:15 left in regulation. Denison (6-9, 5-4), however, showed resiliency throughout the night and continued to battle back as in all, the game featured four ties and eight lead changes.

Down by eight points at 66-58 with four minutes left to play in regulation, Darren Rubin connected on a four-point play to cut Denison's deficit in half with 3:32 left, and then over two minutes later, a layup by John Faller made it only a two-point game at 66-64 with a minute and a half left.

Then after a turnover by the Tigers with 19 seconds left, Denison found itself with a sideline out-of-bound plays and only 3.8 seconds to go. The ball went in to Radtke, who went around his defender and toward the hoop and finished with only 0.6 seconds left to force overtime.

A pair of free throws by both Radtke and Rubin on Denison's first two possessions of the overtime period gave the Big Red their biggest lead of the game up 70-66 until a flurry of three straight dagger 3-pointers by DePauw, the latter two of which were both by Elijah Hales, made it 75-70 Tigers with 1:43 left in the extra period.

A steal by Kevin Cheng followed by a fastbreak layup by Tyler Miller with 48 seconds left made it a one-possession game again at 75-72, and then a missed jumper by Hales with 18 seconds left gave Denison a chance down three. Unfortunately, Rubin's try from long range was short with only five seconds left.

The Big Red shot 9-for-19 from 3-point range during regulation, but were then 0-for-3 from three and 1-for-5 from the field during an overtime period in which DePauw made three of its four 3-point tries after going 4-for-12 from long range during the first 40 minutes.

Rubin led Denison with 19 points and a game-high four assists while Miller matched Rubin with three 3-pointers and scored 13 points. Radtke finished with 11 points while Freeman Brou had eight points and two blocks and Hunter had seven points and a game-high six rebounds.

Next up, the Big Red will finish off the month of January on the road at Wabash College at 2 p.m. on January 29. The Little Giants are one of two teams in the NCAC with only one loss in the conference so far this season, but the Big Red played well in a 92-87 defeat at home against Wabash in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this year (Nov. 28).