Jackets Get Road Victory for Third-Straight Triumph

RICHMOND, Ind. – The Defiance College men's basketball team edged Earlham by a 57-52 margin on Wednesday night on the road. The win gave the Jackets their first three-game winning streak of the season and moved DC within a single win of sixth place in the HCAC standings with three contests remaining.

Defiance closed the first half on a 12-5 spurt to overcome a 32.1-percent showing from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The late charge by the Purple and Gold forced a 25-25 tie at the break and carried over into the second stanza with two quick hoops from Kyle Tietje and Mason Roth.

The Jackets extended the lead to five points on a trifecta from Anthony Brown, capping a 7-2 surge to start the final period on three-of-four shooting out of intermission and used a triple from Anthony Barnum to open up a 51-46 cushion with 6:49 remaining.

Earlham netted the next four points to stall DC's momentum but a Tietje slam put the Jackets back on top by three and Roth followed with a deuce to push the spread back to five points at the 1:59 mark.

The Quakers countered on their next possession to make it a one-possession contest and fired a pair of potential game-tying shots over the final 1:01. The long-range shots would not fall though, as Logan Wolfrum hauled in the final attempt with seven ticks left and Roth iced the 57-52 victory with a pair of free throws.

Roth and Tietje paced the Jackets all night, with Roth ending with 14 points, six helpers and five rebounds, while Tietje added nine points and five boards. Brown also remained hot, netting nine points in the winning effort.

DC (10-12, 6-9 HCAC) improved to 8-5 over their last 13 outings with the victory and climbed to within a game of Manchester and Franklin for the sixth and final spot in the upcoming conference tournament.

The Jackets will face their final road test of the regular season on Saturday, when they tip against Rose-Hulman (15-7, 9-6 HCAC) at 3:00 pm.