Men’s basketball drops NCAC battle to Denison, 70-65

GRANVILLE, OH – Wittenberg's men's basketball team fell to Denison, 70-65, on the road in a close North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) battle Saturday afternoon on Jan. 10, at Livingston Gymnasium.

After trailing by seven at the half at 35-28, the Tigers played good defense in the second half and even outscored the Big Red, 37-35, but just couldn't pull out the win. The Tigers erased the deficit at the 8:01 mark to take a 54-53 lead on a jumper by Noah Frayer (Odenton, MD / SPIRE Academy). 

But the lead didn't last long as Denison went ahead again at the 6:02 mark. And while it was mostly a two-possession game down the stretch, the Big Red hit some clutch shots and outscored the Tigers 14-11 in the final minutes to capture the victory. Overall, there were two ties and six lead changes in the game.

With the loss, Wittenberg drops to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the NCAC, with Denison improving to 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the NCAC after losing its first conference game to Wabash earlier in the week. DePauw and Wabash are also 4-1 in the conference.

Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy Orange) led Wittenberg in scoring with 15 points, while Sam Miller (Ashville, OH / Teays Valley) came off the bench to drop in 13. Kyle Kenney (Centerville, OH / Centerville) also scored in double digits with 11 points, while Frayer added nine. Brown and Miller led the team in rebounds with six each, and Dawson Scott (New Castle, IN / New Castle) added five.

Wittenberg was 25-for-54 (46.3%) from the field and 8-for-18 (44.4%) from three-point range, while DePauw shot 27-for-50 (54%) from the field and 7-for-17 (41.2%) from three-point land. DePauw outrebounded Witt 32-25 and led in assists 12-6.

Next up, Wittenberg will host Kenyon on Jan. 14, at 7:30 p.m.

Written by: Cindy Holbrook