Mount St. Joseph hands men’s basketball first HCAC loss

The Defiance men's basketball team suffered their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling to Mount St. Joseph 74-64.

The Basics

• Records: Defiance (5-5, 3-1) Mount St. Joseph (6-5, 2-2)
• Location: Karl H. Weaner Center - Defiance, Ohio
• Attendance: 200

Inside The Numbers

• Sophomore Cameron Awls led Defiance with a career-high 17 points off the bench.
• Sophomore Dejsani Beamon tallied 14 points along with five rebounds and five assists.
• Freshman Landen Swanner logged 11 points and added a pair of blocks.
• Junior Jerome Johnson led the team with eight rebounds.
• Junior Avonte Jones made his first start of the season and totaled seven points and five rebounds.
• As a team, the Yellow Jackets went 25-of-52 (.481) from the field and shot 7-of-20 (.350) from behind the arc.
• Brady Thomas led the Lions with 18 points followed by Devin Young with 15.
• Young also led the team with seven rebounds.
• Dayne Gardner also reached double figures by scoring 10 points.
• As a team, the Lions shot 25-of-60 (.417) from the field and went 7-of-20 from three-point range.

The Difference

• The Lions opened the contest with a 7-2 over the first four minutes of play, scoring seven straight after the Yellow Jackets scored first with a layup.
• The visitors held the lead from that point until the Yellow Jackets tied the game with seven minutes left the half.
• Mount St. Joseph reclaimed the lead and kept it for most of the conclusion of the half with Defiance briefly tying the game at 28-28 before a late layup gave the Lions a 30-28 halftime lead.
• The Lions maintained control in the second half, largely thanks to a 12-0 run towards the end of the first half of the period, and despite a valiant effort from the Yellow Jackets were able to hold on for the win.

Up Next

• The next game for Defiance will be on Wednesday, January 5 when they host HCAC rival Bluffton at 8:00 p.m. at the Weaner Center.