Jackets Clamp Down on Engineers for Road Victory

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance College men's basketball team used one of its best defensive performances of the season and rode the post tandem of Anthony Pettaway and Nick Sales to a 69-58 victory at Rose-Hulman on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets limited Rose-Hulman to just 36.7-percent shooting from the field and tightened up even further after the half to hold the Engineers to just 30 percent over the final 20 minutes. The 58 points were the second-lowest total allowed by DC and its eight steals marked the third-highest output for Defiance this season.

Along with the stifling defensive effort, Defiance capitalized on its edge in the paint by pounding the ball in to Pettaway and Sales all night long. The dynamic post duo responded by netting 44 of DC's 69 points.

Sales notched his second double-double of the year with 22 points on eight-of-13 shooting and added 11 rebounds, while Pettaway filled the stat sheet with 22 points, nine boards, five assists and two blocks.

The pair of 20-point performances was the first time in 67 games that multiple players have topped the 20-point barrier for the Jackets in the same contest. C.J. Johnson and Curt Croy last accomplished the feat on Feb. 15, 2006, when they combined for 40 points in DC's 82-54 route of Bluffton.

Pettaway and Sales were not alone in the attack however, as Heath Armstrong hit several key shots and ended with 10 points, while Mike Floyd chipped in five assists to fuel the offense.

The Jackets needed the strong all-around performance to pick up the road win over a gritty Rose-Hulman squad and had to rebound from a 36-35 deficit with 16:10 left in the game.

DC turned to Sales and Armstrong and the juniors responded with 11 points in a 17-4 rally for the Purple and Gold, which opened up a 52-40 spread with 10:39 showing on the clock.

The home team immediately punched back with a 10-2 spurt of its own to narrow the gap to just 54-50, before Pettaway took over the game down the stretch. The All-American center poured in eight of the next nine points for Defiance and pushed the cushion back to 63-53 with just over three minutes to play.

Pettaway then sealed the victory by finding Sales under the hoop for an easy deuce. The bucket put DC up, 65-53, with just 1:43 remaining in the game and capped an 11-3 stretch for the Jackets.

Rose-Hulman could not respond from that final spurt and Defiance came away with a hard-fought, 69-58, road victory.

Defiance moves to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in league play with the win and will now face a red-hot and 25th-ranked Anderson (10-3, 3-1 HCAC) team on Saturday at 3:00 pm.