Men's Basketball Toppled by Thiel

NEW WILMINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA - The Defiance College men's basketball team continued their stay at Westminster College as they took on Thiel College in their final action of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets fell to the Tomcats by a final score of 66-48. 

Action on day two of the Buzz Ridl Classic got underway as the two sides battled on the neutral floor. The Yellow Jackets were on the board first as Jordan Maschino (Bradford / Covington) hit three early free-throws. The Tomcat offense quickly found their footing as they began to put a little separation between the sides. 

A Demoines Whitney (Detroit, Mich. / Western) jumper with just over 14 minutes left in the half was the only other basket for the Purple and Gold until Davontae Kinnie (Ft. Wayne, Ind. / Northside) hit a layup to cut the Thiel lead to 20-7 with 5:41 remaining on the clock. The Yellow Jackets then doubled their scoring output in the final five minutes, putting eleven more points on the board before halftime. 

Down 29-17 as they came out of the locker room, DC would look to cut into the Tomcat lead. Freshman Marell Jordan (Lafayette, Ind. / Lafayetter Jefferson) led the Yellow Jacket charge, tallying 18 points in the second half. The Lafayette, Ind. native highlighted his high second half output with an emphatic dunk with 8:42 remaining in the game. 

Defiance was unable to complete the comeback as the Tomcat offense continued to score, shooting 53.8% from three in the second half. 

The loss was highlighted by Jordan's 18 points for the Purple and Gold. Tyler Andrew (Indianapolis, Ind. / Lawrence Central) led the way on the glass, reeling in 10 rebounds. 

The Yellow Jackets are next in action Monday, November 19 as they take on Oakland University (Mich.) in an exhibition before opening up a busy HCAC schedule against Rose-Hulman on December 1.