Men's Basketball Loses to Mount St. Joseph

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Defiance College men's basketball senior guard Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored a game-tying high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 62-47 loss to Mount St. Joseph University in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

As a team, the Yellow Jackets shot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field and just 25.0 percent (six-of-24) from three-point range.  DC made all of its free-throw attempts in the game, but would only get to the line three times.

Individually, Holmes shot 54.5 percent (six-of-11), including 50.0 percent (three-of-six) from behind the arc, to pace DC with his 16 points.  He was the lone Yellow Jacket in double figures as the next highest scorer was sophomore Randall Aikins, Jr. (Detroit, Mich./Plymouth) with eight points.

Freshman Payton Ross (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) led all players in rebounding with 13 boards.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, but Defiance (4-13, 3-7 HCAC) opened up to an early five-point lead, 10-5, in the first six minutes of action.  Mount St. Joseph (13-4, 8-2 HCAC) then went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a two-point edge, 14-12, with just under 10 minutes to go before halftime.

Both teams went scoreless over the next 2:28 until DC senior Devin Mangas (Leipsic) tied the game at 14-14 with a jumper at the 7:26 mark.  The Lions regained the lead with back-to-back baskets to go up by four points en route to leading by as many as seven points late in the half and took a 26-20 margin into the locker rooms.

MSJ began the second period with a 9-3 run to record its first double-digit lead, 35-23, with 16:51 to play.  A three-pointer by senior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and a jumper by Ross, put the Jackets back to within seven points, 35-28, but six straight points by the Lions extended the deficit back out to double figures, 41-28, at the 12:15 mark.

The closet Defiance got the rest of the way was eight points on two occasions with the last one being a 49-41 margin with four minutes to go following a layup by Holmes.  MSJ kept DC from gaining any additional momentum and went on to post its largest lead of 15 points with the final score of 62-47.

Defiance will travel to Anderson, Ind. for a HCAC contest against Anderson (Ind.) University on Wednesday, Jan. 25.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.