Defiance Beats Bluffton
DEFIANCE, OHIO -- For the third time this season, junior Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored 19 points, matching his career-high and leading the Defiance College men's basketball team to a 76-68 victory against rival Bluffton University in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Karl H. Weaner Center.
DEFIANCE, OHIO -- For the third time this season, junior Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored 19 points, matching his career-high and leading the Defiance College men's basketball team to a 76-68 victory against rival Bluffton University in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Karl H. Weaner Center.
Defiance shot an impressive 53.7 percent (29-of-54) for the game, including 60.0 percent (15-of-25) in the second half. The Yellow Jackets also got to the free-throw line 18 games and make 15 of their attempts for 83.3 percent.
Individually, DC was led by Holmes' 19 points on six-of-11 shooting (54.5) and seven-of-nine shooting (77.8 percent) at the charity stripe. Fellow junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 16 points. In addition, senior Wade Wooley (Wauseon) grabbed a game-tying high eight rebounds to go along with nine points.
Defiance (9-7, 7-2 HCAC) jumped out to a 7-2 lead thanks to a three-pointer by freshman Blake Dunbar (Napoleon) to begin the game, followed by a pair of jumpers by Alexander. Bluffton (8-8, 3-6 HCAC) then rattled off eight straight points to take their first lead of the game, 10-7, with 15:52 to go in the first half.
The Beavers never trailed the remainder of the half and led by as many as 10 points, 34-24, with just under four minutes remaining before halftime. The Jackets mounted a rally of their own with an ensuing 8-0 run made up of four points by both Holmes and Alexander, to make it a one-possession ball game, 34-32, at the 1:46 mark.
Following a Bluffton three-pointer to extend the margin to five points, Defiance scored the final five points of the period to even the score at 37-37 at the intermission.
The second half would feature six ties and three lead changes, all in the first 6:14 of the period. DC took the lead for good on a jumper by junior Devin Mangas (Leipsic) that also began a 9-0 run that gave the Jackets a nine-point advantage, 58-39, with 10:15 to go in the game.
Defiance recorded its first double-digit lead with just under seven minutes remaining en route to leading by 13 points, 66-53, as part of an 8-0 run that ended in a bucket by Wooley at the 6:10 mark. The Jackets maintained the sizeable lead the rest of the way and sealed the victory at the free-throw line with six successful free-throws by Dunbar in the final seconds as DC went on to win by the final of 76-68.
Bluffton shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the floor and was led in scoring by Thayne Recker with a game-high 29 points. Austin Rohde was second in scoring with 13 points and Austin Terrill added 11 points.
Defiance will travel to Cincinnati for a HCAC game against Mount St. Joseph University on Saturday, Jan. 23 as part of a doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's team. The women's game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., followed by the men's game at 3 p.m.