Brown Pushes Jackets Past Bluffton for Fifth-Straight Win

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Anthony Brown logged his 11th career 20-point game, ending with a game-high 22 points to lead Defiance to a 55-53 win over Bluffton inside a packed Karl H. Weaner Community Center on Wednesday evening.

The Yellow Jackets needed every single point from Brown against their rival, as the senior guard scored 10-of-11 points for Defiance during a pivotal 11-4 spurt late in the game that put the Jackets in front by a 50-46 margin with 5:03 to go.

Bluffton would counter with four-straight points to draw even, only for Kyle Tietje to reclaim the lead with a free throw. Jeff Hugan then knocked down a contested layup to push the spread to 53-50 but the Beavers battled back to knot the score at 53-53 with 27 ticks showing on the clock.

That set the stage for one final possession from Defiance and Mason Roth made it count by driving the lane as the clock ran down and banking in a layup over the reach of a Bluffton defender with 2.5 seconds left in the game.

Roth then iced the win by stealing Bluffton's in-bounds pass as time expired to send the Jackets to their fifth-straight victory and to within a single win of clinching a spot in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on February 24.

Defiance notched its 125th all-time win over BU behind 22 points from Brown, who delivered his seventh double-digit output in DC's last eight games and ended as the team's lone double-digit performer of the night. With the 22 points, Brown moved into a tie for 30th on Defiance's all-time scoring chart with 1,155.

While Brown shouldered much of the offensive load throughout the night, freshman sharp-shooter, Drew Frizell, provided a major spark for the Purple and Gold in the opening period. With DC facing a 12-7 deficit with 8:32 left in the stanza, Frizell knocked in a trio of three-point daggers and assisted another Yellow Jacket hoop to spur a 21-6 surge that sent DC into the half with a 28-18 cushion.

Frizell ended the contest with those nine points and was joined off the bench by Kyle Tietje, who chipped in five points, four rebounds and two blocks in his 16 minutes of work. Jeff Hugan and Ryan Hicks also played well, as Hugan ended with six boards, five points, one steal and one block and Hicks pulled down six caroms.

Defiance (12-12, 8-9 HCAC) has now held opponents under the 70-point barrier in five-straight outings and has limited teams to 54.7 points per showing over the last three contests. The Jackets will need one more strong effort on the defensive end to complete the late-season surge into the HCAC Tournament, as a win over Franklin (11-13, 8-9 HCAC) on Saturday at 4:00 pm would send Defiance to the postseason for the third time in four seasons under head coach Kyle Brumett.

DC will honor its five-man senior class of Brown, Kyle and Kevin Tietje, Justin Morris and Brandon Hoke prior to the start of Saturday's game, before looking to secure Brumett's 100th victory as a head coach.