DC men's basketball looking for bounce back at Bluffton
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance College heads to Bluffton on Wednesday night to meet with rival Bluffton in a men's and women's basketball doubleheader.
After three straight wins to climb back to .500, the Yellow Jackets are coming off a 67-34 loss at Mount St. Joseph to drop the team to 0-4 in the conference play. Defiance has one of the top scoring offenses in the league but mustered 80 points combined in their last two conference games at Hanover and MSJ.
However, there is nothing like a rivalry game to start the new calendar year to potentially get the season back on track. Bluffton has also had difficulties early in the year and are 3-8 overall and 1-3 in the HCAC. Last time out, the Beavers were smacked by Anderson with a 93-50 final. The Beavers have the lowest scoring average in the conference at 58.5 points per game and are shooting 39.8 percent from the floor, ranking ninth in the conference and just behind DC at 40.8 percent.
DC and Bluffton share a non-league loss to Alma, who defeated Defiance 84-69 and Bluffton 82-71, on their own floors. They've both lost conference games to Hanover while Mount St. Joseph is Bluffton lone league win from the November 30 opener, 57-50.
Defiance senior Marell Jordan leads the HCAC in scoring at 20.4 points per game while his two steals per contest are second-best. Bluffton's top scorer is senior Kegan Owen at 13.2 per game, which is tenth among the HCAC, and he is the top 3-point threat for the Beavers with 23 makes in 11 games. The conference's top player in assists is Bluffton's Michael Stammen, a junior, and he averages 4.2 assists per game.
Defiance and Bluffton meet for the 209th time with DC leading the all-time series, 134-74. The Yellow Jackets won the only meeting of 2021-22, 67-62, at Bluffton during their final regular-season game on February 18.
Tipoff at Bluffton's Sommer Center is slated for 8 p.m. following the women's game starting at 6 p.m. Live video and live stats are available for the event by clicking here.
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