Hicks Nets Career-High with 22 in 72-64 Win Over Hornets

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College extended its home winning streak in non-conference contests to 16-straight victories and moved to 13-0 all-time against Kalamazoo with a 72-64 win on Thursday. The Jackets moved to 42-11 on the home planks under Kyle Brumett and a perfect 3-0 this season.

Hicks anchored the Defiance attack on both ends of the court, hitting eight-of-12 shots from the floor and recording a new career-high with 22 points. The Port Clinton, Ohio, native also led all players with three blocks in his 39 minutes of action.

Logan Wolfrum jumped up another spot on DC's all-time scoring list to 13th with 1,466 career points and added eight rebounds, five assists and one steal to his 16-point effort.

Wade Wooley and Travis Schomaeker also posted standout performances, with Wooley matching a personal-best of 11 boards, while Schomaeker drained a trio of three-point daggers to finish with 13 points and two steals.

Despite the strong individual showings from DC, neither side could get on track in the opening stanza. Defiance and Kalamazoo both shot below 38.0 percent in the first half and the Jackets had to use a 12-5 spurt down the stretch to head to the break with a 30-26 lead.

DC picked up the tempo out of the intermission, using back-to-back buckets in transition to open up a 43-32 advantage at the 15:21 mark, as the more aggressive offense led to better looks and a 53.6-percent clip from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

Kalamazoo still managed a pair of challenges however, cutting the lead down to three points on two occasions. The Jackets turned to the long ball to stave off both spurts, as sharp-shooting sophomores Schomaeker and Drew Frizell buried critical three-point shots to double the lead to six each time and help keep the Hornets at bay in the 72-64 win.

Defiance (4-4, 1-2 HCAC) will return to conference action on Saturday, when it hosts Franklin (4-3, 2-1 HCAC) at 4:00 pm. All fans that bring a 2012-2013 DC winter sports schedule card to the game will get in at no cost.