Tietje's Career Night Not Enough for Yellow Jackets

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Kyle Tietje matched a career high with 20 points on Wednesday, but Defiance turned in its worst shooting performance of the season and suffered a 72-64 loss to Manchester inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.

Tietje connected on eight-of-11 shots from the floor and ended with 20 points, four rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes of action. The rest of the squad could not find the touch however, struggling to hit 14-of-50 attempts for a 28.0-percent clip from the field.

Anthony Brown nailed six of his 14 attempts for 17 points, while Logan Wolfrum added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Kevin Tietje and Ryan Hicks led the Jackets on the glass by teaming for 15 boards.

Defiance saw its five game win streak against the Spartans inside the Hive come to a close after Manchester became the fourth-straight opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the field against the Purple and Gold. MC used a 36-22 edge in the paint to bolster its percentage, while forcing the Jackets to attempt 27 three-point shots.

The cold shooting haunted DC from the opening tip, as the Jackets opened the game with only six makes on their first 20 attempts and found themselves trailing by a 24-14 margin. A 9-2 spurt brought Defiance within three with 2:12 left in the first period but Manchester ended the half on a 7-3 rally to take a 33-26 lead into the break.

After a 9-0 Spartan rally extended the lead to 43-31 with 13:47 remaining in the game, Hicks and Brown scored the next 10 points to bring Defiance back to within two points with 11:18 showing on the clock.

That would be DC's last serious threat of the game however, as Manchester (14-6, 9-3 HCAC) once again answered the challenge and pushed the spread back to 11 by the 8:06 mark. Defiance continued to battle but could not get any closer than six points the remainder of the way.

Defiance (10-10, 5-8 HCAC) will be back on the hardwood on Saturday in Lexington, Ky., when it plays Transylvania (14-6, 8-5 HCAC) in a 1:00 pm tip.