Strong Weekend Concludes in Championship Defeat

DEFIANCE, OHIO - The 2018 Purple & Gold Tournament came to a conclusion on Saturday afternoon as Defiance took on Penn St. Behrend in the Championship bout. The Yellow Jackets battled the Lions to the end, ultimately falling 77-70.

Leading the way offensively for DC was Marell Jordan (West Lafayette, Ind. / Lafayette Jefferson) with 16 points on the day. The freshman also dished out three assists. Jordan Maschino (Bradford, Ohio / Covington) and Tyler Andrew (Indianapolis, Ind. / Lawrence Central) followed closely with 15 points each. Maschino also reeled in 12 rebounds in the effort. 

Noah Goodrich (Oregon, Ohio / Genoa) earned All-Tournament honors for the Purple and Gold. Goodrich tallied 24 points over the two contests, knocking down seven three pointers along the way. 

The championship matchup was a tight contest from the opening tip. After a pair of Andrew free-throws, Devin Goodwyn (Detroit, Mich. / Chippewa Valley) sank a three from deep to get the Jacket faithful into the contest early. 

Penn St. Behrend led the entire first half, but not without Yellow Jacket pressure. Midway through the first period of action Davontae Kinnie (Ft. Wayne, Ind. / Northside) drove to the lane, fought through contact, and earned the and-one to bring the score to 20-19. 

As time ran down, the Lions looked to take the small lead into halftime. Goodrich caught a Maschino pass on the wing and buried a three to cut into the PSUB advantage. Jordan found space for a jump shot with just five ticks on the clock, sending the sides into the locker room, 36-35.

Coach Scott Cutter's side quickly flipped the script in the second half, grabbing the first Yellow Jacket lead via an Andrew layup. The teams swapped leads a handful of times during the second half of action, finding the score at Penn St. Behrend 60, Defiance 58, with just over six minutes left to play. 

PSUB looked to close out the contest, up eight with just under three minutes left to play. An Andrew three followed by a Maschino layup turned the contest around quickly with under two minutes to play. The Yellow Jackets continued to battle to a four point deficit with under 30 seconds left. Forced to foul, PSUB was able to hold on to their lead and win the contest from the charity stripe. 

Defiance's record now stands at 2-9 on the season. The Yellow Jackets will return to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday, Dec. 2 as they head to Anderson University for a 7:30 pm tip-off.