Defiance Never Trails in 74-64 Win Over No. 25 Transylvania

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College led from the opening tip against No. 25 Transylvania on Saturday, dominating the glass and using a balanced scoring attack to notch a 74-64 victory. The Jackets improved to 2-0 under head coach Kyle Brumett against nationally ranked opponents inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.

Defiance placed four players in double figures, with three coming off the bench to do so, en route to a 46-0 edge for the Purple and Gold in bench points. The Jackets also assisted on 13-of-23 hoops in the win, shooting over 55.0 percent in each half and owning a 30-20 edge on the glass against the first-place Pioneers.

Kevin and Kyle Tietje set the tone early for DC, scoring a pair of hoops in the paint to open the game and lift the Jackets to the 4-0 edge. Defiance then begin to settle in, getting seven-straight points from its reserves and opening up a 15-9 lead on a triple from Drew Frizell midway through the opening stanza.

Defiance maintained a small lead through the start of the second half, before Transylvania narrowed to within 36-35 with 15:27 left in the contest. Frizell answered with another trey and Travis Schomaeker followed with a long-range hoop of his own to put DC back in front by seven.

The Jackets would continue the surge, with Schomaeker, Frizell and Ryan Hicks combining for 16 points in an 18-5 charge that opened up DC's largest lead of the afternoon with a 54-40 spread at the 8:52 mark.

Logan Wolfrum would then put the Pioneers away, as the junior guard sank a contested three-point shot at the end of the shot clock to end an extended Pioneer rally. The Wolfrum dagger doubled DC's lead to six points at 65-59 with 2:16 to play.

Defiance sealed the win from the charity stripe from that point on, hitting nine-of-10 attempts from the line to extend its lead in the closing moments of the 74-64 victory.

The Jackets outscored TU 31-0 off the bench in the final 20 minutes, getting 29 of 42 second-half points from the trio of Schomaeker, Frizell and Hicks.

Schomaeker ended with 14 points on six-of-six shooting, while Frizell added 13 points to go with five rebounds and Hicks tacked on 13 points and a pair of blocks. Wolfrum was the lone starter to reach double figures, going for 14 points, seven assists and five boards.

Defiance (5-8, 1-5 HCAC) will hit the road for games at Manchester (4-9, 2-4 HCAC) and Mount St. Joseph (6-7, 2-4 HCAC) in the coming week. The road trip will start on Wednesday, with a 7:30 pm tip at Manchester.