PHILADELPHIA, P.a. - Junior Tyler Maguire (Middletown, R.I.) won the clinching match in four sets, and the Connecticut College men's squash team downed Denison 5-4 to earn a split in the first round of the CSA Nationals. The Camels lost their first match to Colby earlier in the day.

Connecticut College is currently competing in the Conroy Cup bracket of the event, and the first day of matches consisted of a round robin format between the three teams.

In the day's first contest, Conn fell to NESCAC rival Colby 9-0. MD Jawad (New Haven, Conn.) picked up a set in the number two spot for the Camels. 

The second match went quite differently for Connecticut College. The Camels pulled off a tightly contested 6-3 victory over Denison. The match was close throughout, but Maguire sealed the deal with a four-set win in the one spot over Tarun Mammen. After winning the first two sets, Maguire dropped the third set and fell behind in the fourth. But the junior stormed back to win 14-12 in the fifth to clinch the win for the Camels.

Perhaps the most exciting matchup of the contest was between Jawad and Ibrahim Bekhiet in the two spot. Bekhiet took the first two sets 11-2, 11-8. In what could have been a huge momentum shift in the team score, Jawad hung tough, winning the third set 12-10. The Camels senior would complete the comeback, topping Bekhiet in the fourth and fifth 11-8, 11-3. The match lasted 51 minutes in total.

Alex Lorenzo-Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) picked up the final win for Conn in a back-and-forth five-set battle. Demetrius Iatridis (Weston, Mass.), Michael Achatz and Tim First also picked up wins for the Camels.

Connecticut College (4-11) will play Wesleyan on Saturday at 2:30 p.m in the second day of CSA Nationals.