Jackets Rally to Beat Earlham Led By Career-High From Parker

RICHMOND, IND.  --  Junior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored a career-high 28 points, including making eight three-pointers, to help lead the Defiance College men's basketball team erase a five-point halftime deficit to beat Earlham (Ind.) College, 75-57, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game in Richmond, Ind.

Defiance shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) overall from the floor and went 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from behind the arc.  Parker's 28 points was also a game-high while shooting 50.0 percent overall (10-of-20) and 47.1 percent (eight-of-17) from long range.  Senior Wade Wooley (Wauseon) also had a solid night with his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Junior Devin Mangas (Leipsic) joined Wooley in points scored to round out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.  In addition, freshman Blake Dunbar (Napoleon) tallied a game-best six assists.

The two teams swapped leads nine times in the first half with neither team leading by more than six points.  Both teams battled to a 10-10 tie at the 14:13 minute mark when Defiance (11-9, 9-4 HCAC) outscored Earlham (2-18, 1-12 HCAC), 11-7, that included triples by Parker, Mangas and freshman Nick Mesnard (Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey) that led to a four-point edge, 21-17, with 7:15 to play in the half.

Earlham answered with five unanswered points to regain the lead and went on to boast a six-point advantage, 29-23, with 2:14 remaining in the period.   Following another three-pointer by Mangas, the Quakers scored the final points of the half to lead, 31-26, at the intermission.

The Yellow Jacket offense caught fire in the second half shooting both 60.0 percent overall and from three-point range which allowed DC to outscore Earlham, 49-26, in the final 20 minutes.  

Defiance made its move with 11:33 to go in the game with a 17-0 scoring run that ended in a jumper by junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) that gave the Jackets a 13-point margin, 61-48, at the 5:38 mark.  DC continued to pull away and eventually went on to record its largest lead of the game of 20 points, 75-55, thanks to a triple by Mangas with a little over a minute to go.  

The Quakers tallied the final points of the contest on a pair of free-throws, but the Jackets already had the game well in hand and went to win by the final of 75-57.

Earlham was led in scoring by Taylen Alexander with 17 points, followed by the duo of Alex Topalovic and Elijah Wilson-Thomas with 13 points each.

Defiance will return home to host Franklin (Ind.) College in a HCAC game on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Karl H. Weaner Center.  The game will be part of a basketball doubleheader with the women's team.  The Yellow Jacket women will tip-off against the Grizzlies at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.