ADRIAN, Mich. (Nov. 9) – Three players scored in double figures as the Denison University men's basketball team secured a 72-68 victory in its season opener at Adrian College on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Ricky Radtke paced the Big Red with a strong effort in the season opener. Radtke finished with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Radtke made five-of-six field goal attempts in the victory. 
 
Kellon Smith and Trevor Reed joined Radtke scoring in double figures Smith added 12 points while Reed chipped in 10 off the bench. 
 
Denison converted at a 47.7 percent clip on its field goal attempts. The Big Red also put together a strong effort at the line in a foul-filled affair. Denison connected on 25-of-34 attempts from the charity stripe. 
 
The Big Red sank five three-point attempts to help build a 38-29 lead at halftime. Darren Rubin knocked down a triple on Denison's initial possession of the season. Trevor Reed eventually drained a triple of his own to grow the Denison lead to 11-5 at the 13:52 mark. A three-point play by Radtke and a jumper by Smith made it a 16-8 advantage for Denison. 
 
Denison led by as many as 13 points in the first half. A made jumper by Scotty Dean at the 8:18 mark made the score 25-12 in Denison's favor. Adrian, however, responded with a lengthy run to cut the deficit to just four points. A three-pointer by Adrian cut the gap to 30-26 with 2:51 to play in the first half. A three-pointer by Dean and a layup by Radtke allowed Denison to finish the first half strong and take a 38-29 advantage into the locker room. 
 
Adrian didn't make things easy on Denison over the final 20 minutes. After seeing its lead grow to nine points less than four minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to surge into the lead at 44-43 just four minutes later. 
 
The two teams became locked in a battle for the remainder of the game, as several leads were exchanged from that point. A layup by Kellon Smith made it a three-point lead for Denison with 5:32 to play. However, the Bulldogs scored seven-straight points to lead by four with 4:10 left. Denison used steady work at the free throw line to regain the lead. 
 
The Big Red drained six-straight free throws to take a 67-65 advantage with 2:05 to play. Denison never trailed from that point on. A split at the free throw line by Smith with nine seconds left solidified the win. 
 
Up Next: Denison hosts nationally ranked Carnegie Mellon University for an 8 p.m. tip off on Saturday, Nov. 16. The start time of the game was pushed back to the evening due to Denison hosting the 2024 NCAC Volleyball Championship match at Livingston Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.