Jackets Vault Back Into D3hoops.com National Poll

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's basketball team has won four of its last five games to climb into third place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings and has garnered votes in the www.D3hoops.com national poll for the fifth time during the 2009-2010 campaign.

Defiance was among the 42 teams from around the nation to earn votes in the national poll, receiving six points to tie with Colby for the 32nd-highest total in the nation. The placement in the poll is the second-highest for the Jackets this season, after pulling the 30th-most points in the week-seven vote. Along with this most recent week-10 poll, Defiance has also received votes in the week one, five, six and seven polls.

DC jumped back into the national poll by winning a pair of league games during the past week. The Jackets won 70-59 at Manchester on February 3, before scoring a home victory against Transylvania at February 6.

The two wins clinched the team's spot in the HCAC Tournament and secured a fourth-straight, 17-win season for the program. The 17-5 overall record ranks the Yellow Jackets 41st in the nation in winning percentage, while the squad also rates 31st with 79.9 points a night and 24th with its 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Senior Nick Sales and freshman Logan Wolfrum have been leading the way for Defiance down the stretch, as Sales has scored in double figures in eight-straight games and Wolfrum has accomplished the feat in seven of his last eight. During that span, Sales has netted 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.9 steals to go with a crisp 65.4-percent clip from the floor, while Wolfrum is scoring 13.0 points on a 45.9-percent rate from the field to go with 2.5 assists per game.

Defiance (17-5, 8-5 HCAC) will be back in action on Saturday, February 13, when it welcomes Mount St. Joseph (8-12, 3-9 HCAC) for a 3:00 pm tip.