Swanner, Brooks post 20-point efforts in season finale loss at Bluffton

BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets' 2023-24 season ended with a 93-79 loss to the Bluffton Beavers to close a 33-season stint as an NCAA Division III program on Friday at the Sommer Center. 

Despite 20-point efforts by Landen Swanner and Sherod Brooks, the Yellow Jackets closed the year with 22 consecutive losses to finish 1-23 and 0-18 in conference play. Bluffton shot the ball well and crashed the boards to snap a five-game slide and finish 8-17 on the season.

TURNING POINT

Defiance had two cold shooting stretches and watched Bluffton create a 23-point swing with runs of 12-0 and 11-0 during the first half of the basketball game. After holding a 5-2 lead, the Beavers put together a 12-0 run on both ends of the first media timeout. Later in the half, Bluffton scored 11 straight points between the last two media breaks of the half. During those stretches, Defiance was held to 0-for-14 shooting and only turned the ball over once while Bluffton hammered the boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half was defined by a flurry 3-point misses by Defiance countered by strong Bluffton rebounding coupled with efficient offense. The Yellow Jackets, one of the HCAC's top 3-point shooting teams all season long, struggled to knock down shots the entire half and started 1-for-10 from outside. The Beavers snagged 27 rebounds compared to 14 by Defiance and converted 20-of-34 field goal attempts before halftime. Bluffton also hammered the paint early, scoring 32 of 46 first-half points near the rim.

DC opened up the game with a 5-2 lead on a Landen Swanner triple and Sherod Brooks lay in, but Bluffton responded with the first of two lengthy scoring runs. Bluffton scored 12 straight poitns starting at 16:44 until Brooks found a layup with 12:48 on the clock. Over that stretch, the Yellow Jackets were 0-for-8 from the floor while Bluffton gobbled up 10 total rebounds.

Defiance stabilized their shooting with triples by Cole Wojciechowski and Will Gehlhausen sandwiched around a pair of Yellow Jacket layups. As Defiance cut the lead to 24-17, Bluffton responded with an 11-0 run in just over three minutes to open the score back up. The Beavers eventually stretched the lead to as many as 21 in the last two minutes of the half. At the close of the first half, Bluffton led 46-30 and held Defiance to 30 percent shooting and 6-for-23 from outside the arc over the first 20 minutes.

The Jackets ended on a high note by outscoring the Beavers 49-47 over the second half. During a four-minute stretch in the late stages of the game, the Jackets used a 21-8 run to cut the Bluffton lead down to 10. Defiance turned around to shoot 49 percent after halftime and made 6 of 17 3-pointers out of the break. On Bluffton's side, the Beavers shot 57 percent with just four 3-pointers but dominated the boards, 46-32.

For the game, Defiance finished 39 percent shooting (31-for-79) from the field on 12-of-40 from 3-point range. DC's 79 field goal attempts and 40 3-point tries were season-high totals while the Jackets' seven turnovers were the fewest in a game this season. 

BRINGING THE STING

• Landen Swanner recorded his third 20-point game of the year and team-high 14th scoring double figures. He made a team-high four 3-pointers to close the season with his best scoring effort in the month of February. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out a team-best six assists.
• Sherod Brooks scored Defiance's last bucket in the NCAA era to eclipse 20 points for the game, his second such performance this year and 13th game in double figures. 
• Will Gehlhausen added 13 points and led the team in rebounding with seven boards. He also dished out a career-best five assists.
• Devin Goodwyn added 11 points, his sixth game in double digits on the year thanks to a trio of 3-pointers.
• Cole Wojciechowski scored seven points, five of which were in the first half, and grabbed six rebounds over 15 minutes of action.

UP NEXT

Defiance will start the next era of Yellow Jackets basketball with the 49th Annual Purple and Gold Tournament during the first weekend of November.

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