Rochester, N. Y. - Fueled by a dominant first half, the Denison men's basketball team played into the win column on Saturday afternoon, defeating Allegheny College 72-55 in the consolation game of the Chuck Resler Tournament. Denison's win in their second contest of the season is the first on the young campaign, as they close out their first weekend 1-1.
Liam Taylor lifted Denison to its strong first half, as the junior headlined the offense in the first four minutes of the game. The junior forward outscored Allegheny 8-4 in the opening four minutes, and set the tone for the Big Red as a
Luke Rubin three-pointer and a
Tyler Schenck dunk helped expand the lead during the next four-minute stretch. Denison led 18-8 at the halfway mark of the first period after
Samson Zack buried a shot from downtown, with the trey keeping the Big Red on the attack.
Ellis Appiah pushed Denison over the 20-point threshold after the under-eight timeout, setting up a 13-3 run that tilted the game in favor of the Big Red.
Luke Rubin and
Ezra Sixto chipped in scores during the run that pushed the score to 31-17, while a pair of three-point makes in the final 94 seconds from
Liam Taylor pushed the lead to 22 points. Taylor's final basket of the first half was his fourth made trifecta of the game, as the junior scored 15 points in total in Denison's 39-17 first half.
Protecting a 22-point halftime lead, the Big Red traded scores with the Gators throughout the second half, building their lead to as many as 26 points. A three-point play from
Luke Salkowski helped build the one-sided lead, and allowed Denison to withstand a run from the Gators that whittled the lead to 13. A pair of
Ellis Appiah baskets slowed the momentum for Allegheny, and with 10:10 remaining in the game, Taylor's final point of the game from the charity stripe recaptured a 16-point advantage at 59-43.
Denison would control the pace and tempo over the remaining 10 minutes of the game, and outscored Allegheny 13-12 in the closing moments of the afternoon, comfortably closing out their first win of the season in a 72-55 final.
Liam Taylor led the Big Red in scoring in the win, putting away a game-high 16 points in 20 minutes of play, shooting 5-9 from the floor.
Ellis Appiah had 14 points and five assists to go with three steals, while
Luke Salkowski scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Luke Rubin led the bench with eight points in the victory.Â
The Big Red will look to add to their win on Tuesday night, when they return home to host Capital University in the home opener. Tip is slated for 7:00 p.m.
