ALEX KAUFMAN
Staff Writer
A three pointer from Conor Macomber put the exclamation point on a 23-6 run over the final 7:24 as Allegheny stunned Denison, 67-63, to close out the regular season. The last-place Gators played a strong defensive game, holding the Big Red to just 34.8 percent shooting from the field.
It was a tough loss for Denison, who dispatched of third-place Hiram earlier in the week following a disappointing senior day performance against Wabash.
After the Wabash game, Andrew Castagnetti ’17 said the team was “trying to get past it and move onto focus on [Wednesday].”
The focus was strong in DU’s win against Hiram. The Big Red were led by David Meurer ’17, who finished 9-of-11 from the field with 24 points and four assists, for good measure. His former high school teammate, Jett Speelman ’17, finished with 21 points.
In a game with just one lead change, the Big Red utilized a 12-0 run to come from behind and upset the Terriers. Within that run, Meurer scored five consecutive points that led to a Hiram timeout. Over the game’s final 6:11, the fatigued Terriers were outscored 20-6.
“We just played really well defensively.” Meurer said about the run. “We got stops when it counted and continued to be aggressive defensively.”
Despite a 2-3 finish in conference play, the Big Red will host a quarterfinal game in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
“It means a lot to us.” guard John Cheng ’16 said. “It’s been a goal of ours all season. We enjoy playing in front of our home crowd. Hopefully we can get a win in front of them because we know they’ll help give us the home court advantage.”
Denison will play Wittenberg on Tuesday evening at Livingston Gym, with tip-off time to be announced. The teams split their regular season matchups, each winning on the road. Garrett Collier ’18 averaged six-and-a-half points and five assists per game against the Tigers.
There is no room for error in the tournament as every game could be their last.