Box Score GRANVILLE, Ohio — A 14-point run the first half proved to be the difference on Wednesday night as the Earlham College men's basketball team fell 79-58 in its season opener at Denison University.

The non-conference contest was tied 5-5 after Earlham's Kyle Tucker (Vincennes, IN, Lincoln) hit a 3-pointer at 15:11 with an assist from Ryan Taylor (Martinsville, IN, Martinsville). Unfortunately for the Quakers, the Big Red scored the next 14 points to build a 19-5 advantage with 11:00 left.

Colton Bragg (Richmond, IN, Richmond) scored a basket and added a free throw for Earlham to make it 19-8 and end the run at the 10:27 mark of the opening period. From that point, Denison (1-1) widened the gap to lead 50-29 at intermission.

"We came out flat in the first 10 minutes," Earlham Head Coach Jeff Justus said. "We came out strong in the second half and had solid performances from Ryan Taylor and Kyle Tucker."

In the second half, the Quakers closed the gap to 59-43 when Tucker drilled a 3-pointer with 11:55 remaining in the contest. Later in the frame with 8:51 left, Bragg scored to make it 61-48, but that was as close as the Quakers could get.

Taylor led the Quakers with a career-high 21 points to go with three assists. His previous best was 17 points against Wittenberg University on Jan. 14, 2009.

Tucker finished with 12 points, while leading the Quakers with five rebounds. Bragg tossed eight points and Josh Green (Campbellsburg, IN, West Washington) contributed seven points, three steals and three assists. Marcus Bledsoe (Indianapolis, IN, Ritter) added four rebounds.

Earlham (0-1) returns to action on Friday in the Little Giant Tip-off Classic at Wabash College. The Quakers face Wabash at 8 p.m.

Box Score