DC set to open 13-14 campaign vs So. Virginia at W&L Tip-Off

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Yellow Jacket Men's Basketball team will begin the 2013-14 campaign Friday evening with its season opener in the Washington and Lee Tip-Off Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will play Southern Virginia for the first time in school history at 8 p.m. in the first of two games in two days.

The winner between the Knights and Yellow Jackets will meet up with the winner of Ferrum College and Washington and Lee on Saturday, with the other two schools playing in a consolation game.

Defiance enters the 2013-14 season with high expectations for the sixth season under head coach Kyle Brumett. Through five seasons, Brumett holds an 83-51 record with a .619 winning percentage that currently sits third among DC coaches all-time.

The Yellow Jackets will look to make a run at the conference title this winter after finishing fourth in the HCAC standings last season.

DC is coming off on a 16-11 season with an 11-7 record in conference action. The Yellow Jackets were picked third in the 2013-14 HCAC preseason coaches poll, receiving two first place votes and 78 points overall.

In the preseason poll, four Yellow Jackets were named players to watch for the season. All four Yellow Jackets on the list, Ryan Hicks, Mason Roth, Bernard Edwards and Travis Schomaeker, are returning with starting experience for Defiance.

The Yellow Jackets return one All-HCAC player from the 2012-13 campaign in forward Ryan Hicks. He will be the lone senior on Brumett's squad and returns after a solid 2012-13 campaign. Hicks played in all 27 games last season and started in 25.  He was second in points per game last season and will be the team's returning leading scorer after averaging 12.5 per contest last season.  Hicks shot a blistering .553 percent from the field last season. Hicks also led the team in rebounds and blocked shots per game with 5.7 and 1.1 respectively.

Junior Travis Schomaeker will start the season off running the offense for the Yellow Jackets and will have a large role to fill as Logan Wolfrum, who finished a four-year career as the number two in all-time points scored in DC history, has graduated. Schomaeker started in 22 of 27 games played last year for DC and will make the move to the starting point guard role.  He finished fifth on the team last year in points per game, averaging eight points. He also had 46 assists to go along with 12 steals and 57 rebounds on the season.

Junior Mason Roth is the only returner to start in all 27 games last year for the Yellow Jackets. Roth averaged eight points per game as a sophomore, and led the Yellow Jackets with 30 steals. Roth is also the leading returner in assists from last season, dishing out 48 on the year.

Bernard Edwards will look to give Brumett and staff a full season in his second year with the Yellow Jackets. The 6-6 forward missed some time as a sophomore but started 12 games last season and averaged 24.3 minutes per game in 21 total appearances. Edwards averaged 9.8 points per game with 12 steals and 15 blocks. He also brought down 84 rebounds on the year, averaging four per game.

The Yellow Jackets have only played one of the three schools in the Washington & Lee Tip-Off Tournament. The Yellow Jackets have only met Ferrum College, taking the only meeting between the two schools in 2010, edging out an 87-85 victory in the Dominoe's New Year's Classic in Salem, Virginia.

Southern Virginia enters its season following a strong campaign, going 17-7 under then first-year head coach Tony Caputo. 2012-13 was one of the best seasons in SVU history with a conference championship run that carried all the way to an USCAA National Semi-finals appearance for the reclassifying NCAA Division III team. SVU, which will compete fully in Division III this season, is in its second of four years to full Division III status.