Men's Basketball: Second-half run lifts Salem State past the Big Red

A 16-3 run in second half propelled Salem State to a 95-85 victory over the Denison University Big Red on day one of the Salem State Christmas Tournament in Salem, Mass.

The two squads battled in a closely contested first period. Up 15-12 with 13:35 remaining in the opening half, the Vikings went on an 11-4 burst to open up a 10 point advantage. However, Denison rattled off six unanswered points to cut the deficit to four (26-22). The back-and-forth battle continued throughout the remainder of the period. Ahead 45-42, Salem State went on a 7-2 run to close out the final 1:20 of the half to take a 52-44 lead into the locker room.

Down 54-46 early in the second frame, the Big Red's Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) drained a three-pointer that capped off an 11-3 run that tied the contest at 57-57 with 16:40 remaining in regulation.

Following a missed shot by the Vikings, Garabedian sank a layup to give Denison their first lead since the 17:52 mark of the first half.

The two teams passed the lead back-and-forth for the seven minutes of play. Down by one (68-67) with 9:30 remaining, junior Caleb McFerren (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) drove in for a layup to regain the lead for DU.

However, the Vikings went on a 16-3 run spaning 3:10 to regain a double-digit lead. The run was highlighted by an eight-point performance from Brennan Bennett. Salem State maintained a 10 or more point lead for a majority of the final five minutes of play to secure the victory.

Junior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) led the Big Red offensive charge with 19 tallies while Garabedian finished the game with a career-high 14 points. Senior Pat Sullivan (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) and freshman Jim Leffew (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) each added 11 tallies.

For the Vikings (8-2), Thomas Henderson led all Salem State scorers with 15 points while Bennett, Dylan Holmes and Nick Linear scored 14 apiece. Holmes also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while Stevie Celestin dished off 10 assists.

Denison (2-7) closes out the Salem State Christmas Tournament on Tuesday when they take on Nichols at 3 p.m.