DC Lets Early Lead Slip Away in Loss to Transylvania

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Anthony Pettaway became the 23rd player in DC history to crack the 1,200-point barrier for a career and led the Jackets with 18 points on Saturday but it was not enough to hold off a determined Transylvania squad, as DC suffered an 81-79 defeat to the Pioneers.

Things looked good early for the home team, as Defiance raced out to a 14-2 lead and gradually extended the cushion to a game-high 16 points with 6:10 remaining in the opening stanza. The Jackets saw six different players connect from long distance in the early flurry, going six-for-11 from beyond the arc to build the commanding 39-23 lead over the Pioneers.

After leaning heavily on the three-point daggers to build the 16-point spread, Defiance went ice cold from beyond the arc and managed to connect on just one in its final 15 attempts. Transylvania capitalized on the drought and chipped away at the DC advantage, using a 28-11 run over the next 14:07 of action to grab the 51-50 lead with 12:03 left in the contest.

The TU rally was capped by four-straight free throws from Joey Verax, after the Jackets were tagged with back-to-back intentional and technical foul calls in what proved to be a pivotal point in the key HCAC matchup.

Both sides traded runs over the next several minutes, as Defiance finally got the offense back on track to rattle off a 13-7 spurt. The rally temporarily put DC up, 67-61, with 7:40 to play but Transylvania scored the next five points and then drew even at 71-71 with 3:04 showing on the clock. The score would be tied again at 73-73 and 75-75, before a Matthew Parton trey gave Transylvania the 79-77 lead with just 30 seconds left in the game.

The Jackets had a chance to answer TU's 11th make of the game from three-point territory but saw it slip away in the form of their 15th turnover of the afternoon. After a DC foul, Transylvania connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe to build a four-point spread and came away with the 81-79 victory.

After the sizzling start, DC saw its lead dwindle away due to a cold touch from three-point distance and a failure to take control of the ball. The Jackets ended just seven-of-26 from downtown and saw TU score 23 times off of 15 costly turnovers.

Despite the struggles, Defiance nearly pulled out the victory thanks to 19-of-23 (82.6%) shooting from two-point range and a 20-for-21 (95.2%) performance from the free throw line.

Pettaway led the way with 18 points, while Mike Floyd, Nick Sales and Kevin Tietje joined the center in double figures.

Transylvania (8-3, 2-1 HCAC) saw all five starters score 11-or-more points and used 11 makes from long range to fuel the attack.

Defiance falls to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the HCAC with the defeat and will now face a pair of road challenges. The Jackets will begin the road swing on Wednesday in an 8:00 pm tip at Rose-Hulman (5-7, 1-3 HCAC), before playing at Anderson (9-3, 3-1 HCAC) on Saturday.