Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College men's basketball team turned in a thrilling 75-68 win over the Denison University Big Red on Wednesday night at Philips Gym. 

The Big Red entered the night tied atop the conference standings, but the Yeomen were able to hand them their fourth league loss of the year as they head back to Granville, Ohio, 12-9 overall and 8-4 in the NCAC. The win snapped a seven-game slide against the Big Red with the last Oberlin triumph coming nearly five years ago to the day in the form of a 61-60 victory on February 2, 2019. 

Four Yeomen finished in double figures highlighted by sophomore center Milun Micanovic who notched his fifth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. First-year JJ Gray led the way in the scoring column with 17 points, while Asaan Snipes-Rea and Dimitrije Radusinovic each netted 10 points in the victory. 

Denison grabbed an early 14-6 advantage but the Yeomen would find their footing and methodically work their way back into the game. A Big Red turnover led to a Snipes-Rea transition layup that trimmed the margin down to one at 18-17. Denison would reestablish a three-possession lead on a Scotty Dean 3-pointer that pushed its lead out to 30-23 with 5:56 left in the opening half but the Yeomen would finish the frame on a flurry. 

A dunk from Gray capped a 7-0 Oberlin spurt to tie the game at 30-30 and after two more level counts, the Yeomen would go out in front for the first time of the night on a Gray jumper with under a minute to go. The ensuing Yeomen trip featured a long-range strike from Will Bousquette III that gave Oberlin a 39-34 edge at the intermission. 

After holding Denison scoreless for the final 2:21 of the first half, the Yeomen picked up right where they left off following the restart - holding the Big Red off the scoreboard until the 16:22 mark of the second half while ballooning the lead to 15, 49-34. The second-half burst featured triple-hits from Robert Millard and Radusinovic. 

However, the Big Red would not fold as they battled to the bitter end. A fastbreak layup from Radusinovic had the Yeomen out in front 57-44 at the midway point of the second half but the Big Red did not panic and rallied to put pressure back on the home side. 

A Cameron Smith steal-and-score layup had Denison within one, 63-62, with 2:52 left to play but back-to-back buckets from Gray and Snipes-Rea allowed the Yeomen to exhale for just a bit as they led by five with 96 seconds left. After both sides exchanged a handful of free throws, the Big Red trailed 69-66 with 22 ticks still to expire but senior Anastasis Spyroglou calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws to rubber stamp the victory for the Yeomen.

Oberlin shot 57.4 percent (27-of-47) from the floor and cashed in 18-of-22 charity tosses for an 81.8 percent success rate. The Big Red finished at 41.9 percent (26-of-52) and connected on just six of 32 attempts from beyond the arc for an 18.8 percent clip. The Big Red also left seven points on the free throw line, going 10-of-17 at the stripe for 58.8 percent. 

The victory ran the Yeomen's record to 11-9 overall and 5-6 in the NCAC. 

Oberlin will play four of its final five games away from Philips Gym starting on Saturday afternoon at Hiram College. Tip-time is set for 2:00 p.m.