Tale of two halves plague Jackets in Terre Haute as DC falls 79-49

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance Yellow Jackets played a tough first half before the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers locked down defensively in the second half to hand DC their 18th straight defeat, 79-49.

The Jackets (1-19) fall to 0-14 in the HCAC for their 15th straight loss in conference play while being held below 50 points in a regular-season game for the first time this season. The Fightin' Engineers (9-12) got back to .500 in conference play for their seventh win in the league.

TURNING POINT

The tides turned quickly in the second half despite DC scoring four of the first six points of the half. Starting with a Bradley Harden trey out of the first media timeout in the second half, Rose-Hulman embarked on an 18-3 run with four triples and forced four DC turnovers. The basketball game shifted from a six-point deficit for Defiance into a 20-point hole in just over six minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Following a 4-0 start by the Yellow Jackets, Rose-Hulman found their rhythm to even the score to 8-8 by the first media timeout at 14:34. The Fightin' Engineers claimed their first lead at the 13:15 mark on a right side 3-pointer by Kobe Stoudemire. Miles McGowen boosted the lead to five and forced a timeout by the Jackets following a DC miss on the other end. Benny Smith added a 3-pointer for Rose-Hulman with just under 12 minutes left in the opening half as the Engineers climbed up by six.

Defiance created a highlight play at the 11:25 mark off a missed 3-pointer by Sherod Brooks. Will Gehlhuasen flew in for the rebound and flipped the ball to Jordyn Jury before flying out of bounds while Jury laid in the score. Jury went on to score nine straight Defiance points that included a 3-pointer in the right corner for DC's next points.

Rose-Hulman opened up a 10-point lead at 28-18, but the Jackets recovered to pull within one thanks to buckets by Devin Goodwyn and Heath Kash. The Fightin' Engineers pull back out to seven by the end of the half, 37-30.

Both squads shot over 50 percent in the first half with four 3-pointers each. The tides turned quickly in the second half despite DC scoring four of the first six points of the half. Starting with a Bradley Harden trey out of the first media timeout in the second half, Rose-Hulman embarked on an 18-3 run with four triples and forced four DC turnovers. 

Rose-Hulman went on to outscore Defiance 42-19 in the second half as Defiance went 0-for-14 from 3-point land after halftime. The Jackets shot 24 percent and were outrebounded 27-16 during the second 20 minutes as well.

For the game, Rose-Hulman shot 48 percent and made nine 3-pointers in addition to a 10-for-13 showing at the free throw line. Despite the hot start in shooting, Defiance finished with a 36 percent rate from the floor and went 11-for-18 at the line.

BRINGING THE STING

• Jordyn Jury compiled a career-best 11 points for Defiance, his first game in double figures over his first two years with the program. Jury connected on nine points in the first half and had a perfect day of shooting the basketball. The sophomore from Hopewell-Loudon went 3-for-3 from the floor with a 3-pointer and made all four free throw attempts.
• Devin Goodwyn was DC's next top scorer with nine points, five of which were during a comeback stretch late in the first half.
• Will Gehlhausen notched eight points thanks to a pair of triples. He also led Defiance with three assists and three steals.
• DC's leading scorers this season, Landen Swanner and Sherod Brooks, were limited to just two points apiece. It was just the second time in the last nine games that Brooks had been held to single digit points. Brooks led the Jackets in rebounding with seven boards.
• Rose-Hulman was led in scoring by Miles McGowen with a game-high 28 to compliment 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Defiance plays at home on Wednesday night for the team's penultimate home game of the 2023-24 season. The Yellow Jackets tip off against the Mount St. Joseph Lions at 7:30 p.m. at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

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