Nick Lewis sank three second-half 3-pointers, and Miles Versa converted two last-second free throws to propel the Kenyon College men’s basketball team to a 64-62 nonconference home win against the Wolverines from Grove City College on Dec. 7.
The win was the first of the season for the Lords (1-7), who trailed for most of the game and managed to erase a nine-point deficit with a little more than seven minutes left on the clock. On the other side of the court, the loss evened out Grove City’s record at 4-4.
The first of Lewis’ three treys snapped the twine at the 13:50 mark of the second half and gave Kenyon its first lead (40-39) of the game. Dylan Fuerst followed with a jumper, giving the Lords a three-point advantage and forcing Grove City to take a timeout.
Following the brief break, the Wolverines stormed back with eight straight points. Kenyon temporarily stopped the bleeding with a couple of field goals, but Grove City came right back with six straight to take a 55-46 lead with 7:24 left.
Over the next three minutes, Kenyon chipped away at the lead. Lewis then drilled his second big-time basket, scoring a triple that tied the game at 57-57 with 3:56 left. About a minute later, Lewis connected on another three-pointer to even the game again, this time at 60-60 with 2:46 remaining.
From there, Versa took charge for the Lords. After coming up with a steal at midcourt, he broke loose for an easy layup to give Kenyon a 62-60 edge. Grove City countered with a bucket, but that gave the ball back to Kenyon with just 25 ticks left.
After two fouls by the Wolverines, the Lords got the ball back in the hands of Versa, who drove the lane and drew the shooting foul with just five seconds remaining. Versa drained both free throws and Grove City missed a running jumper at the other end to close out the game.
Lewis finished with game-high 17 points. He shot 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in the second half. Versa chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and the two most important free throws of the game. On the boards, Juan Sergio Matabuena grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Both teams substituted at a frantic pace, resulting in 10 different players scoring points for each team.
The Wolverines were strong on the boards, out-rebounding Kenyon 54-37, including latching on to 20 offensive rebounds. They couldn’t capitalize, however, as they shot just 26-of-71 (36.6 percent) for the game and had just 11 second-chance points.
Lady Cougars Remain Unbeaten in Conference Play
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's basketball team (9-2, 4-0) gutted out a 74-63 road victory at Huntington University (2-9, 0-4) on Dec. 4 to remain unbeaten in conference play.
At halftime, MVNU carried a 41-37 lead. The Lady Cougars picked up the defensive intensity in the third quarter as they outscored the Foresters 19-10. Huntington shot just 29% in the period. Huntington did not quit, however. Huntington battled back to tie the game at 60-60 after an 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter. An Elizabeth Monk jumper with 4:45 left in the game broke the tie for good as the Lady Cougars closed the game on a 14-3 run to secure the victory.
Maggie Coe led all scorers with 20 points. She was 7-for-15 from the field and also had three assists and two steals. Sage Brannon and Rylee Pireu each had 13 points for MVNU. Brannon grabbed five rebounds, and Pireu added four of her own. Pireu also had four assists. Maggie Coblentz had 11 points in just 11 minutes off the bench. She was 5-for-6 from the field.
MVNU head coach Amada Short said, “Road wins are a great thing, and we will take it. Huntington did a great job at taking us out of our flow in the fourth by mixing up their defense. It was great to see another game of being able to grit it out and get the win. It's awesome to be heading into the league break with a 4-0 conference record.”
