GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 2, 2023) – The Denison University men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 91-75 win at home over the College of Wooster on Saturday afternoon. Both teams shot 50 percent or better from the field in the first half before the Big Red proceeded to shoot 65.5 percent (19-29) from the field and 50 percent (6-12) from the three in the second half while holding the Fighting Scots to just 9-for-27 (33.33) percent shooting over the final 20 minutes.

In addition to strong shooting, Denison finished the game with 13 steals on 20 Wooster turnovers and led 30-16 in points off turnovers and 15-4 in fast break points.

Four Big Red players scored in double digits and hit two or more 3-pointers, led by Aidan King with a career-high 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 shooting from three.

Nick Heath scored 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from three, Ricky Radtke scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field while shooting 2-for-3 from three and adding a team-high seven rebounds, Kellon Smith scored 10 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field, and Scotty Dean scored nine points on 3-for-8 shooting from three.

Despite all of the scoring by the Big Red, Cameron Smith was the unsung hero with four rebounds, four assists and four steals, in addition to great defense against Wooster's Jamir Billings.

The two teams were throwing haymakers at each other early with eight lead changes in a four-minute span ending with a layup by Tyler Miller with nine minutes left in the first half.

Denison then began to land some heavy punches with 3-pointers by Dean and King before a steal by Emmett Burnside led to another 3-pointer by King to give the Big Red their largest lead of the first half (33-25) with just over five minutes left in the opening period.

Billings and the Scots, however, had the answer with three straight 3-pointers to go back in front, and then a fourth straight 3-pointer by Billings made it a 37-33 Wooster lead with under three minutes remaining in the first half.

In all, Wooster went on a 14-0 run before a tough layup by Radtke finally stopped the bleeding, and then a steal and a one-handed flush by Burnside got the Big Red back to within two (39-37) in the final minute and a half of the period.

It was a high-scoring first half as Wooster was a very effective 66.7 percent (16-24) from the field and was 61.5 percent (8-13) from three while Denison shot 50 percent (16-32) from the field and was 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from three.

In the second half, however, Wooster started 0-for-7 from the field while Denison took back the lead on a layup by Radtke just under four and a half minutes into the half.

Heath followed with his third 3-pointer of the game, assisted on by King, and then a 7-0 Denison run featuring a crafty layup by King, a transition dunk by Miller and a 3-pointer by Trevor Reed assisted by King made it 56-47 Big Red with 13 minutes left to play.

Wooster got back to within four of the Big Red (58-54) with under 11 minutes to go, but back-to-back layups by K. Smith followed by a 3-pointer by Dean assisted by K. Smith gave Denison its first double-digit lead of the game (65-54) with nine minutes remaining.

Another 3-pointer for Dean, this time assisted by C. Smith, was followed by a layup from King also assisted by C. Smith to make it 70-56 Big Red with just over eight minutes left.

Denison continued to pour it on as the third 3-pointer of the game by King made 75-58 with 6:41 to go, two free throws by Heath made it 77-58 less than a minute later, and then a reverse layup by Gates Flynn made it a 21-point game (83-62) with only 3:37 on the clock.

Denison (4-4 overall) flipped the script on Wooster (2-5 overall, 1-1 NCAC) after it was the Fighting Scots who were coming off a 79-42 win over Ohio Wesleyan University in its conference opener on Wednesday after holding the Battling Bishops to just 19 points in the second half. Wooster's unmatched size and physicality down low made the difference in that one, but this time around it was Denison who dominated in points in the paint (44-26).

Next up, Denison will host Oberlin College in more conference action beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 6, inside Livingston Gymnasium.