GRANVILLE, Ohio - January 29, 2020 – The Hiram Terriers men's basketball team came up just short against the Denison University Big Red, falling by the final score of 71-67 on Wednesday at Livingston Gymnasium.

Following a back-and-forth start, Antonio McQueen keyed a 6-0 run to give the Terriers a 12-6 lead. McQueen would go onto score a team-high 10 first-half points, but the Big Red would quickly tie things up and take the lead.

After Denison pulled within one, Tyler McMillion notched back-to-back buckets to give Hiram a five-point advantage, 16-11 with 13:00 left in the first half. But the Big Red answered with a 15-2 run, opening up an eight-point lead and forcing Hiram to take a timeout.

Three-straight buckets out the timeout pulled Hiram within two, but Denison weathered the Terriers run and headed into halftime with a 38-33 lead.

The Big Red came out hot to start the second half and took their largest lead of the game, 47-38, with 16:56 to play on Jack Coulter's three-pointer. Hiram answered with six-straight points, making it a one-possession game on Kevin Beans Jr.'s free throw.

Coulter responded with another three, but Brodgie Gordon and Beans Jr. knocked down jumpers to bring Hiram within two. And after Coulter hit another three, one of his six made triples, an 8-0 gave the Terriers their first lead of the second half, 56-53, with 9:25 to play.

Both teams struggled to score down the stretch, as the Big Red tied the game at 56 and again at 58. Beans Jr. once again gave the Terriers a one-possession lead with a jumper with 6:51 remaining, but Denison took it right back over the next three minutes with a 5-0 run, taking a 63-60 lead with 3:11 to play and forcing Hiram to use a timeout.

Two free throws by McMillion with 1:18 to play made it a one-point Denison lead, but Coulter again hit a triple to make it a two-possession game. Back-to-back buckets by McMillion and Will Hunter kept the Big Red's lead at four, 68-64, before McQueen, with a free throw and jumper, brought Hiram within one, 68-67, with 25 seconds to play.

Gordon sent Ben Stern to the free-throw line where he made one-of-two, giving Hiram a chance for the win or to send the game into overtime. But McQueen was fouled before his shot and couldn't convert the front end of his one-and-one, while Denison hit their free throws on the other end to ice a 71-67 victory.

Hiram drops to 5-13 (2-9 NCAC) with the loss, while Denison moves to 6-12 (3-8 NCAC) with the win.

McQueen led the Terriers with 16 points while McMillion added 14 and a team-high eight rebounds.

In a game that featured seven ties and three lead changes, the Terriers shot 48.2 percent, but just 18.8 percent from three.

The Terriers are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they host the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops at 3:00 p.m. at Price Gymnasium.