GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 15, 2023) – Playing in front of a packed crowd inside Livingston Gymnasium, the Denison University men's basketball team utilized a 12-0 run starting in the final eight minutes of the game to defeat the first-place team in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, the College of Wooster, by a final score of 78-70 on Wednesday night.
With the win, Denison improves to 13-10 overall and 9-6 in the NCAC while Wooster, which is receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Men's Top-25 poll, fell to 18-5 and 12-3.
Nick Heath and
Darren Rubin both scored 19 points for the Big Red as Heath finished 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range while Rubin was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
Tyler Miller was next with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting while
Emmett Burnside and
Ricky Radtke both added eight points. It was a great all-around effort for Burnside, who also led Denison with nine rebounds and four assists.
Neither team led by more than three points in the second half until the 12-0 run for Denison that started with a layup and a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Rubin to make it 56-53 Big Red.
That was followed up by an up-and-under basket by Burnside before a long 3-pointer again from the top of the key by Rubin to make it 61-53 with just under five and a half minutes left to play.
Then with 4:20 to go, Radtke posted up and hit his defender with the shoulder fake before scoring over his left shoulder to make it a 10-point game (63-53). A minute later, Heath's fifth 3-pointer of the game made it 66-55 Big Red.
A pair of free throws by Rubin with two and a half minutes left made it a 13-point margin (68-55) before the Fighting Scots got to within eight (68-60) in the final two minutes.
To seal the win for the Big Red, Miller, Rubin, Burnside and
Cameron Smith went a combined 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes.
For the game, Denison finished a great 15-for-16 (93.8 percent) from the charity stripe while Wooster only shot two free throws on the night.
Both teams had a run in the first half as after five leads changes in the first seven minutes of the game, Wooster used a 7-0 run ending with a 3-pointer by Elijah Meredith to go up by eight points (20-12) 10 and a half minutes in.
Fortunately, Heath and the Big Red had a run of their own ready to go as back-to-back 3-pointers by Heath started a 12-2 Denison run that featured 10 points by Heath and ended with an offensive rebound and putback by Heath to make it 24-22 Big Red with just over six and a half minutes remaining in the first half.
A layup just before the halftime buzzer by Miller capped a first half that featured nine ties and six lead changes and ended with the two teams tied at 33-33.
There were 12 ties and 14 lead changes in all for the game.
Next up for the Big Red will be their final game of the regular season as Denison matches up against Kenyon College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, in Gambier, Ohio. A win for the Big Red would secure fourth place in the NCAC standings and a home game for next week's NCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
