DC Tops Franklin, Advances to Fourth Straight HCAC Semifinal

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College men's basketball team ran past a gutsy performance from the sixth-seeded Franklin Grizzlies on Tuesday night, advancing to the HCAC Semifinals for the fourth-straight year with a 92-78 victory inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.

The victory extended DC's current win streak to six games and moved the third-seeded Yellow Jackets into an HCAC Semifinal showdown with the second-seeded Hanover Panthers (15-9, 12-4 HCAC) on Friday night at 6:00 pm. The other half of the HCAC Final Four will pit No. 4 Manchester (17-9, 10-6) with top-seeded Anderson (21-4, 13-3) in the 8:00 pm game, after the Spartans scored a 64-57 win over fifth-seeded Transylvania on Tuesday.

In Defiance's two regular season victories over Franklin, the Jackets piled up 47 points off of 34 FC miscues. That trend carried over into Tuesday's action, as DC scored 10 of its first 21 points of the game off of turnovers to build an early 21-11 advantage.

Franklin managed to settle in at that point and began climbing back with a long-distance attack and an all-out effort on the glass. Franklin sank four-of-five shots from three-point range and beat Defiance, 19-10, in rebounds during the first half to fight back even at 42-42 with 60 seconds left in the opening stanza.

Logan Wolfrum sent DC to the break with a four-point cushion however, as the freshman scored a deuce in the paint before picking up a steal on Franklin's next touch and ending the half with his fifth bucket and the 46-42 lead.

The Grizzlies turned the tables on Defiance to open the final period, capitalizing on a pair of sloppy Yellow Jacket possessions to open the half and drawing even at 46-46 with two quick layups.

Mike Floyd broke the tie with a pair of free throws, before assisting Nick Sales for a hoop that regained the four-point spread. DC and Franklin would lock horns from there, as the Defiance lead would volley back and forth between one and six points until midway through the final 20 minutes.

Defiance finally began to distance itself with just over 11 minutes left in the game, as Heath Armstrong provided the squad's first trifecta of the night to give DC the 69-60 edge, before another Wolfrum score pushed the lead into double figures at 71-60.

The Jackets would continue the spurt, as Floyd got into the paint for a deuce and Sales capped the 13-1 run with a pair from the charity stripe that gave Defiance the 75-60 cushion with 9:05 showing on the clock.

Franklin made one final push to get within seven points, but Defiance ratcheted up its intensity on the glass, as well as on the defensive end to turn the Grizzlies away one final time. Defiance held FC to just four points over the next 5:37 and took advantage by blowing the game open with a 16-4 rally that put the Jackets up by a 92-73 margin and on their way to the 92-78 win.

Defiance overcame an off night from beyond the arc by relentlessly attacking the lane. The aggressive approach led to the Jackets sinking 32-of-48 shots from inside the arc for a blistering 66.7-percent clip and a dominating 60-30 edge in the paint.

DC also played well on the defensive side of the ball down the stretch, holding Franklin to just 41.9 percent from the floor in the second half to improve to 10-0 this season when holding its opposition to a lower shooting percentage after the break.

Wolfrum shined in his first HCAC Tournament showing, as the standout freshman hit eight-of-10 attempts from the field for a game-high 19 points, while Floyd ended with 14 points and three steals and Brandon Campbell added 12 points and two swipes.

Kevin and Kyle Tietje also provided a major lift off the bench for DC, as Kyle scored eight points to go with six boards, three blocks and two assists, while Kevin also sank three-of-four shots for eight points and added four rebounds and one block.

Sales highlighted the post play for Defiance with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in another all-around gem from the senior. Sales now has 1,320 points and 802 boards to become the fifth player in DC history to surpass the 1,300-point and 800-rebound plateaus. He also moved into second place all-time at Defiance with 76 blocks in his career.

Defiance (21-5) will look to continue its run in the 2010 HCAC Tournament when it takes on Hanover on Friday night at 6:00 pm on the campus of Anderson University, with the winner earning the right to play for the HCAC Championship on Saturday at 7:00 pm.