Another Jackets rally comes up short against Kalamazoo

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets clawed back within striking distance in the second half on Saturday but the Kalamazoo Hornets pulled away in the closing minutes to a 74-59 final score at the Karl H. Weaner Center. 

DC falls to 1-3 in the early stages of the season and suffers the College's first-ever loss to Kalamazoo in 16 meetings. The Hornets have now won four straight games, including Friday night's visit to Bluffton, after losing their season opener.

Kalamazoo created separation thanks to 19 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds and nine 3-pointers compared to five by the Jackets. The Hornets also converted 13-of-20 free throws while Defiance was limited to seven attempts at the charity stripe, of which they made six.

In the first half, Jordyn Jury delivered a nice spark off the bench after the Hornets started to create some separation. Jury forced a steal shortly after checking into the game and took it the other way for a layup to cut Kalamazoo's lead to 15-13. The sophomore from Hopewell-Loudon delivered a big shot three minutes later on a go-ahead 3-pointer, which was DC's only turn with the lead since starting the game with a 3-0 advantage. With 8:01 left in the first, Jury split a pair of free throws to give the Jackets a 19-17 lead. Kalamazoo's Ty Horky responded with a triple on their next trip up the floor and never relinquished the lead.

Three different Hornets hit treys over a four-minute stretch in which the lead grew to a dozen points with two minutes left before halftime. A quick layup by Sherod Brooks, a blocked shot on defense by Landen Swanner followed by a Swanner 3-pointer on DC's end trimmed the Kalamazoo lead down to seven with just over a minute left before the break.

In the second half, Kalamazoo kept their distance hovering around 10 until the clock showed less than 10 minutes left in the game. Devin Goodwyn knocked down an open 3-pointer off the left wing to pull the Jackets within 10 off a nice feed from the post by Evan Park. Park shoveled crisp passes that led to Defiance's next two buckets as well, each creating layups for Goodwyn and Landon Wells. Goodwyn struck again from long range after the under-eight-minute media timeout to make the score 57-54 Kalamazoo.

While Kalamazoo finished the game on a 17-5 run, Defiance went one-and-done on their next eight possessions resulting in six misses and two turnovers. Clay McCorkle ended the drought at the 1:54 mark with the Jackets trailing by 12 points. McCorkle was Defaince's lone scorer in double figures as he recorded a career-high-matching 11 points.

Off the Defiance bench, Jury scored six points, all in the first half, and Goodwyn racked up eight for each player to set new career-best scoring totals. Swanner was DC's top rebounder with five while Park's four assists led all players in the game. On Kalamazoo's end, Ty Horky notched 21 points with five 3-pointers and secured eight rebounds. Lukas Broadsword recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

For the game, Kalamazoo narrowly outshot Defiance from the floor with 46 percent compared to 41 percent by the Jackets. The Hornets also won the battle of the boards, 41-29.

During halftime of Saturday's action, Defiance College honored the 50th anniversary of the 1972-73 men's basketball team which was the first team in school history to reach the NAIA National Tournament. Among the attendees were Bill Clark, Mark Klein, John Kornowa, Bill Kramer, Randy Lintermoot, Greg Mugg, Charles Nafziger, Rick Perz and Mark Shine. Cheerleaders Bindy Herkins and Buffie (Tittman) Kramer and student assistant coach Marv Retcher also joined the group.

The Yellow Jackets return to the court next Saturday with a home contest against Oberlin. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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