Ohio Wesleyan 60, Kenyon 54

Feb. 20, 2007

Sophomore wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) converted a 4-point play that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and sophomore wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) and junior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to hold off a spirited Kenyon rally as Ohio Wesleyan edged the Lords in a quarterfinal matchup of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan, the tournament's No. 3 seed, advances to play second-seeded Wittenberg, a 72-49 winner over Hiram on Tuesday, in an NCAC tournament semifinal matchup on Friday at Wooster. The Ohio Wesleyan-Wittenberg game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.

The Bishops strugged from the field during the early going, but Holliday hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 10-9 lead with 12:34 left in the first half.

Kenyon answered with a 3-pointer by Bryan Yelvington, but on Ohio Wesleyan's next possession, Miller buried a 3-pointer from the right wing and was fouled by Allen Bediako. Miller hit the free throw to give the Bishops a 14-12 lead with 12:02 to go in the half.

Ohio Wesleyan stretched the lead to 20-12 on 3-pointers by Miller and Holliday, but Kenyon rallied on the inside play of Yelvington, who sank 3 free throws and a lay-in to bring the Lords within 22-19 with 5:31 to play.

The Bishops finished off the half with a 9-1 run, with senior wing Ted Uritus (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) knocking down a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws and Miller adding a 3-pointer, and led by a 31-20 margin at halftime. Ohio Wesleyan stretched the lead to 35-20 on a pair of Rudegeair hoops early in the second half.

The Lords then went on a 17-4 spree, fueled by Yelvington and a pair of 3-pointers from Chris Yorlano, to pull within 39-37 with 13:17 to go in regulation time, but Ohio Wesleyan responded with buckets from junior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North) and Miller to pad the lead back to 6 points.

Kenyon would come within 3 points on 2 other occasions, but both times Cafarella buried a 3-pointer to restore the 6-point margin.

Kenyon's best shot came in the closing minutes. With the Lords trailing, 56-50, Korey Haddox was fouled and hit the first of 2 free throws. Maddox missed the second, but Yelvington snared the rebound, laid it in and was fouled on the play. Yelvington sank the free throw and the Lords were within 56-54 with 2:11 to go, needing a stop to get the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead.

The Ohio Wesleyan defense was able to match Kenyon stop for stop, however. Haddox missed a jumper from the lane with :22 left and Holliday cleared the rebound and was fouled, and Holliday hit both free throws to make it a 58-54 game with :19 to go. Yelvington missed on Kenyon's next possession and Rudegeair grabbed the rebound, and his free throws with :11 to play sealed the outcome.

Holliday and Miller shared the Bishop lead with 13 points apiece, while Uritus finished with 11 points. Junior post Jesse Jean (Alexandria, Va./Hyde (Conn.) School) grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds and freshman guard Robby Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) led the Bishops with 5 assists.

Yelvington led Kenyon with 24 points and 9 rebounds, while Yorlano had 11 points and a team-high 3 assists.

Box Score

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