After dropping a weekend game on the road to Wabash College, the Kenyon men’s basketball team fell at home to the College of Wooster. 

On Saturday, the Owls headed west to take on the Little Giants. The home team jumped out to a 9-2 lead after four minutes, and Kenyon struggled to generate consistent offense throughout the first half. After facing a 12-point deficit with three minutes to play in the half, Kenyon went on an 8-0 run to close the period trailing by just 39-35. 

With momentum on their side, the Owls came out of the gate hot. A 3-pointer from Anthony Testa ’24, who scored 15 points from beyond the arc, gave Kenyon its first lead of the day. The Owls continued their run of scoring to go up 51-43 with just under 16 minutes to play. Unfortunately for Kenyon, Wabash then scored nine unanswered points to regain the lead. The two teams traded points as time winded down, and the Owls even held a slim 64-63 lead with three minutes to play. However, the Little Giants, who had only made one 3-pointer in the half, put home a dagger from deep to retake the lead and went on to win 74-69.

Testa praised the entire team for bringing energy into the game, but highlighted losing their second half lead as a key pitfall for the team. “I think we had great energy from all 20 guys, which is very important in a hostile environment like Wabash,” he wrote in an email to the Collegian. “We had a stretch in the second half after taking an eight-point lead where we let them back into the game. I think we can learn how to maintain our leads after we build them up.”  

Ahead of Wednesday’s game against Wooster, Nicholas Nelson ’26, who had 10 points against Wabash, emphasized the importance of playing responsibly on both sides of the ball against the Fighting Scots. “To find success against Wooster, we need to focus on our defense and limit their opportunities,” he wrote in an email to the Collegian. “We also need to take care of the ball on offense and make smart decisions with [it].” 

Unfortunately for the Owls, they fell in lopsided fashion to the Fighting Scots. The two teams played tightly throughout the opening minutes of the game, with Kenyon holding a 7-5 lead early in the game. That would be the Owls’ only lead of the game, as the Fighting Scots went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes. Though Kenyon shrank the gap to close out the first half, Wooster still held a 30-23 lead going into halftime. The Fighting Scots started the second half strong, growing their lead to double digits just two minutes into the frame. From then on, Wooster never looked back, taking the game 77-53.   

The Owls will next play on Feb. 8, when they travel to face DePauw University. Kenyon’s record stands at 7-14 (0-12 NCAC) with four games left on the regular season schedule. With the season in the homestretch, Nelson highlighted a few goals for the team before the Wooster game. “Our goal for the remaining five games of the regular season is to continue improving and playing as a cohesive unit. We want to make a strong push toward securing a spot in the playoffs,” he said.