Defiance Comeback Falls Short in Loss to ONU

GREENCASTLE, Ind. – The Defiance College men's basketball team battled an unbeaten Ohio Northern squad to the horn, before settling for a 70-67 defeat to the Polar Bears in the second game of the Mike Rokick Community Versus Cancer Challenge hosted by DePauw.

The Jackets started strong once again, turning to their All-American center, Anthony Pettaway, for an early boost. The senior responded by scoring 14 of DC's first 23 points and lifting the Purple and Gold to a 23-14 advantage.

Ohio Northern adjusted to the DC surge and countered with streaks of 11-0 and 14-2 to grab control of the game. The two runs straddled an Anthony Brown trey and gave the Bears a 39-28 lead, before a pair of DC free throws at the end of the half stopped the 25-5 rally and sent Defiance to the break facing a 39-30 deficit.

The Jackets saw the ONU swell to a game-high 12 points at 56-44 with 12:51 remaining in the second half, before an Eric Stolly three and a Nick Sales jumper drew DC within seven with 12:02 to play.

Defiance would later score nine-unanswered points to regain the lead at 65-64. The 9-0 rally was capped by a Pettaway bucket at the 4:48 mark and gave DC its first lead since holding a 26-25 advantage midway through the first half.

The one-point lead for DC would be its only lead of the final stanza however, as Ohio Northern scored on its next two possessions to go up 68-65 with 4:06 showing on the clock. Another hoop from Brown brought the Yellow Jackets within a single point with 3:43 to play, but Defiance could not finish off the comeback and suffered a 70-67 defeat.

Both sides tickled the twine from long range all night, as Defiance connected on 10-of-23 for a 44-percent rate and ONU sank 11-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc for a blistering 48-percent clip.

Along with the hot shooting, the Jackets also owned a 35-27 edge on the glass but saw that advantage neutralized by giving up 22 points off of turnovers. The benches played a deciding factor in the contest, as Northern's reserves outscored DC's bench by a 31-7 margin.

Brown and Kyle Tietje had the hot hands from long distance for Defiance, combining to hit nine-of-12 from three-point range and ending with 21 and 17 points each. Pettaway joined them in double figures with 16 points and added 11 rebounds in the loss.

Defiance (1-3) will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when it takes on Earlham in the third-place contest at 2:00 pm.