Bar-Cohen nets 23 in loss at Wabash

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Kenyon College senior Gefen Bar-Cohen poured in 23 points during Saturday’s men’s basketball game on the road, but the Little Giants of Wabash College created a second-half cushion and held off Bar-Cohen and the Owls, 77-67.

Bar-Cohen, who cracked 1,000 career points just before the calendar flipped, went 9-of-17 from the floor against Wabash, posted his second-highest single-game scoring total of the season, and reached a double-digit scoring mark for the 15th time in 16 games played. In addition to leading the Owls in points, he tied Nick Nelson for the team lead with eight rebounds.

Wabash (10-6, 6-1 NCAC) jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, but Bar-Cohen scored Kenyon’s first nine points and pulled the Owls within two points three times during the first seven minutes of play.

Kenyon (3-13, 1-6 NCAC) remained on the heels of the Little Giants and, with 7:29 left in the half, a pair of Marius Mazeika free throws gave the Owls their first lead at 21-20. The teams then went back and forth for a few minutes until Wabash connected on eight straight points in the paint to move ahead 35-28.

Before the first half came to a close, Murathan Kocaman and Bar-Cohen drained three-pointers, leaving Wabash with a slim 37-36 lead at the break.

A tip-in from Charlie Heywood started the second half and gave Kenyon its final lead of the contest. After that, the Little Giants buried two consecutive three-pointers to spark a 15-1 run that saw the lead balloon to 52-39.

Kenyon never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. With 37 seconds left, Bar-Cohen completed a three-point play to get the Owls within seven, but Wabash converted all six of its final free throws to seal the deal.

The Owls fared well from long range, shooting 10-of-23 (43.5 percent), but inside the arc they managed to shoot just 23-of-59 (39.0 percent). Wabash, led by a game-high 25 points from Rich Brooks, shot 27-of-56 (48.2 percent) as a team.

Mazeika, who hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts, ended up contributing 14 points to the Kenyon total. Jackson Burke scored eight and Heywood finished with seven points and six rebounds.

The Owls will look to bounce back with an upcoming three-game homestand that starts Wednesday night against Oberlin College.