Yellow Jackets Upset No. 2 UW-Whitewater in NCAA Tournament

WHITEWATER, WISC.  --  The Defiance College men's basketball team began the 2015 NCAA Division III National Tournament with a first-round upset of No. 2 nationally-ranked, and defending national champion, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 83-71, at Kachel Gymnasium in Whitewater, Wisc.

Defiance (22-6) shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) for the game, including 50.0 percent (12-of-24) from three-point range.  The Yellow Jackets outscored the Hawks by 20 points in the second half to erase an eight-point deficit at halftime.  Senior guard Travis Shomaeker (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) led all scorers with 26 points on nine-of-16 shooting (56.3 percent) and went six-of-eight (75.0 percent) from behind the arc.  Senior forward Bernard Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Warren Cousino) was second with 21 points and grabbed a game-tying high six rebounds.  Senior guard Mason Roth (McComb) rounded out the high scorers with 19 points in addition to grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists.

The two teams played a tight first half with Defiance maintaining a slight edge on the scoreboard for the majority of the opening 10 minutes.  DC led by as many as four points during the span, but UW-Whitewater (24-4) came back to even the score at 16-16 with 9:04 left in the period.  The last nine minutes of the half belonged to the Hawks as they looked to pull away and built a nine-point advantage on two occasions, including a 34-25 margin with 1:11 to go before halftime.  Roth connected on a three-pointer to end the DC scoring in the half, but Whitewater tallied the final points on a layup to grab a 36-28 lead at the intermission.

The second half began with a 6-0 scoring run by DC to make it a one-possession game, 36-34, at the 18:31 minute mark.  The Jackets made nine triples in the final 20 minutes and eventually tied the game for the 10th time in the contest with the score of 49-49 on a jumper by Roth with 12:18 left to play.  Following a pair of free-throws by the Hawks to regain the lead, Defiance outscored Whitewater, 14-4, over the course of the next 6:20.  During that span, Schomaeker took over the game, scoring 10 of the 14 points during the run, as the Yellow Jackets moved out on top, 66-55, with 5:37 left.  The hot shooting didn't end for Schomaeker and the Jackets as Schoemaker connected on another three-pointer less than a minute later and a triple from Roth, resulted in a 15-point lead, 74-59, with just over three minutes remaining.  Edwards then made six straight free-throws to balloon the DC lead to 18 points, 80-62, at the 1:19 minute mark.  DC went on to lead by as many as 19 points, 82-63, with under a minute to go thanks to two free-throws by sophomore guard Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North).  Whitewater ended the game on an 8-1 run, but the Jackets already had the game in hand and went on to post the 83-71 victory.

The Hawks shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) for the game, but were held to just 15.4 percent (two-of-13) from three-point range.  Whitewater had two players score in double figures in K.J. Evans scoring 17 points and Quardell Young adding 14 points.

Defiance advances to take on No. 24 St. Olaf (Minn.) College tomorrow (Saturday, Mar. 7) in a second-round matchup of the NCAA Division III Tournament.  The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. at Kachel Gym in Whitewater, Wisc.