Defiance Men's Basketball Defeated by No. 21 Ohio Wesleyan

DELAWARE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College men's basketball team was defeated by No. 21 nationally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University, 77-63, in a non-conference game in Delaware.

The Yellow Jackets trailed by only a basket at halftime, but Defiance shot just 27.6 percent (eight-of-29) in the second half, including 15.4 percent (two-of-13) from three-point range which was the difference maker as OWU outscored the Jackets, 39-27, to claim the 14-point victory.  Individually for DC, sophomore guard Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) led the team in scoring with 14 points on five-of-14 shooting (35.7 percent).  Senior forward Bernard Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Warren Cousino) also scored in double figures with 13 points and also grabbed six rebounds.  Senior guard Mason Roth (McComb) grabbed a game-high eight boards.

The Defiance (2-2) offense started strong by outscoring OWU, 17-5, to begin the game.  But the Battling Bishops (5-0) answered with an ensuing 13-0 scoring run to take the lead, 18-17, nearing the midway point of the opening half.  The remainder of the period transformed into a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than four points.  The two teams combined for seven ties and 10 lead changes in the first 20 minutes, including battling to a 36-36 tie following a pair of free-throws by Defiance freshman forward Michael Kaminski (Medina) with 32 seconds left before halftime.  OWU tallied the final points of the half on a layup to grab a 38-36 advantage at the intermission.

The shooting woes began early for DC in the second half as the Bishops scored the first 11 points of the period as part of an opening 15-2 run and extended their lead to a commanding 53-38 mark with 13:45 remaining in the game.  OWU maintained its double-digit lead for the majority of the remainder of the half and recorded it's largest margin of 17 points, 66-49, at the 7:07 minute mark.  DC closed the gap to eight points, 71-63, late in the half thanks to a 7-0 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Bernard Edwards with 1:35 to go.  But the earlier deficit was too great to overcome and the Bishops scored the final six points of the contest to go on to post the 77-63 final.

OWU shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) for the game and had three players score in double figures led by Claude Gray's game-high 20 points.  Nate Axelrod was second with 18 points and Ben Simpson added 12 points to round out the high scorers for the Bishops.

Defiance returns home to host Manchester (Ind.) University on Wednesday, Dec. 3 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at the Karl H. Weaner Center.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.