Pat Sullivan's 14 points helped DU to a two-point victory over Earlham on Wednesday night in Richmond, Ind.

Senior Pat Sullivan (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) scored a late field-goal to lift the Denison men's basketball team to a 72-70 North Coast Athletic Conference win over Earlham College on Wednesday evening in Richmond, Ind.

With the victory, the Big Red improved to 5-10 in the league and secured a spot in next week's NCAC Tournament. This will be DU's fifth post season appearance during head coach Bob Ghiloni's seven-year tenure and is the first since the 2005-06 season.

The first 10 minutes of the opening half was a seesaw battle between the two squads that saw four ties and two lead changes. With the game knotted at 16-all, Denison rattled off six consecutive tallies to build up a 22-16 advantage. After the Quakers rallied to trim the margin to two (22-20), the Big Red engineered a 17-6 run capped off by a Sullivan steal and lay-up as the horn blew. Rookie Brett Tiberi (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) drained two three-pointers to spark the five and a half minute run which helped DU take a 13-point lead into the intermission.

The Big Red was up by as much as 16 points (44-28) in the early stages of the second half. However, Earlham responded by crashing the boards and hitting high-percentage shots en route to posting an 18-2 run to tie the game at 46-46 with 12:36 left in regulation.

Throughout the next nine plus minutes of action the two teams resumed the battle of attrition. After Denison led by as many as six points several times during the lengthy stretch, Tristan Gregory drilled a trey to give the Quakers their first lead (66-65) since the 14:11 mark of the first half.

Down by a point, freshman Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) pulled down an offensive rebound which led to a Sullivan lay up that regained the lead for the Big Red. The senior later hit one-of-two free throws to give DU a two-point advantage.

After A.J. Sutherlin knocked down a pair of foul shots to tie the contest, Earlham retook the lead on a Justin Barger lay in with 55 seconds on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Sullivan drove to the basket, drew a foul and sank both free throws to even the score at 70-70.

With time winding down in regulation, a costly turnover by the Quakers eventually led to Sullivan game-winning bucket with 3.2 seconds left on the clock. The Big Red sealed the victory when Garabedian came away with a steal in the final seconds of play.

Both squads shot 22-of-51 (43 percent) from the floor and received six points off turnovers. DU held a slight 32-30 edge on the glass.

Junior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) paced the Denison offense with 21 points on 6-of-11 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe. Sullivan finished with 14 tallies and five rebounds while Garabedian dropped 13 points and a game-high nine boards.

Gregory led all scorers with 22 points while Shane Heidt and Sutherlin chipped in 16 and 10, respectively. Heidt also dished out a game-high six assists.

The Big Red (8-16) close out the regular season on Saturday when they host Wabash College. Tip-off at Livingston Gymnasium is scheduled for 3 p.m.