GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 1, 2023) – The Denison University men's basketball team took a 10-point lead into the locker room and then pulled away in the second half to defeat Hiram College by 20, 78-58, on Wednesday night at Livingston Gymnasium. 

Denison led the entire way in the first half after a 5-0 start on a midrange jumper and three free throws from Darren Rubin, and then Denison's first of three 10-point leads in the first half came after the second 3-pointer of the period by Nick Heath made it 33-23 with 5:46 left until halftime.

The Big Red led by 10 again after a pair of free throws by Rubin made it 41-31 with two minutes to go before the break, and then a layup by Ricky Radtke in the final minute made it 43-33 at the half.

Then two minutes into the second half, back-to-back putbacks by Rubin and Radtke followed by a tough midrange jumper by Rubin over his defender gave the Big Red their largest lead of the game to that point at 49-35.

From there, Denison increased its lead to 20 points (59-39) with 12 and a half minutes left after another 6-0 run featuring a pair of free throws by Cameron Smith, a nice reverse layup in transition by Heath and an up-and-under layup by Emmett Burnside.

The largest lead came at 66-43 thanks after a 3-pointer by Tyler Miller with nine minutes to go.

Rubin finished with a game-high 17 points for his eighth game in a row scoring in double digits, and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line. As a team, Denison was 18-for-22 (81.8 percent) from the charity stripe.

Radtke finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double in a row, and Heath dropped in 14 points.

In addition, Smith added eight points and two blocks, Burnside had six points and seven rebounds and Will Hunter had six points, five boards and two blocks while Scotty Dean made his impact felt on the defensive end with seven steals.

In the end, Denison had 11 players with at least one field goal.

Denison, which began the day with only a half a game lead over the Terriers for fifth place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, are now 10-9 overall and 6-5 in the conference while Hiram dropped to 11-10 and 5-7. It was also the second straight season sweep for the Big Red over the Terriers.

The Big Red will finish off the week at DePauw University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, before returning home for Senior Day at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, vs. Wabash College.