Greencastle, IN- Following a pivotal win over the Wittenberg Tigers, the Big Red traveled to DePauw to take on the other big cat of the North Coast Athletic Conference. Courtesy of a second-half surge, the Big Red downed the Tigers in a 78-69 win on the road.

First Half:

At the start of the first half, both defenses kept their clamps firmly in place. Denison did a solid job at containing the No. 2 scoring offense in the conference, but it was the DePauw defense(No. 8 in scoring defense in the conference) that was able to force multiple early missed shots. At the 10:00 minute mark, the score was just 11-13 in favor of DePauw with both teams trading the lead back-and-forth. A pair of free throws from Ellis Appiah and a three-pointer by Jack Steinbach gave the Big Red a five-point swing. A later deep ball from Samson Zack pushed the Denison lead to four, but the Tigers responded late to knot it up at 28-28. A trio of free throws from Nick Heath closed scoring for the Big Red, but DePauw was able to beat the buzzer to send the game into half at 31-30 in favor of Denison. 

Second Half:

After halftime adjustments, the Big Red offense came out swinging, recording six unanswered points courtesy of shots from Kellon Smith and Aidan King. With the lead stuck at six, the senior sharpshooter, Heath, pulled up from beyond the arc on a fast break to grow the lead to nine. The Tigers were able to claw back to make it a one-point game, but the persistent Denison offense snuffed the ounce of momentum. In the closing moments, DePauw began to foul for a chance to make a comeback, but the Big Red were ice cold from the charity stripe. Appiah and Smith drilled nine free throws to end the game in victory. 

Top Performers:

• Kellon Smith led the team in scoring, dropping 27 points on a 9-12 shooting performance(8-9 free throws)

• Ellis Appiah was a perfect 6-6 from the line, recording 10 total points in the win

• Liam Taylor and Aidan King led the squad with 6 and 5 rebounds, respectively

• The team outshot their season averages in field goal, three point, and free throw percentages

Up Next: 

The Big Red will continue its travels on Saturday to take on the newcomer of the conference in John Carroll. Denison will face off with the Blue Streaks in University Heights, Ohio for first place in the NCAC standings.