Defiance Win Streak Snapped by Bluffton

BLUFFTON, OHIO   --  The Defiance College men's basketball team could not hold off a second-half rally and saw its six-game winning streak come to an end following a 70-68 loss against rival Bluffton University in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action in Bluffton.

Despite the loss, senior forward Bernard Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Warren Cousino) led Defiance in scoring with 29 points while shooting 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) and seven-of-eight (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line.  Senior guard Travis Schomaeker (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) was second in scoring with 16 points and fellow senior guard Mason Roth (McComb) rounded out the high scorers with 14 points. 

Defiance (10-4, 5-2 HCAC) led by 12 points at halftime, but was outscored, 46-32, in the second half.  The Jackets began the game with a layup by Edwards and a three-pointer by Roth to grab an early 5-0 lead.  The quick start was a forcast of how the first 20 minutes would go for DC as the Jackets quickly extended their five-point advantage to an 11-4 margin at the 16:16 mark following a triple by Schomaeker.  DC recorded its first double-digit lead with 11:07 to go in the period when another triple by Schomaeker increased the margin to 23-12.  The Yellow Jackets went to post a large lead of 16 points on two occasions, including a 34-18 score with just over a minute-and-a-half to go.  Bluffton (7-7, 3-4 HCAC) ended the half on a mini 6-2 scoring run to get to within 12 points, 36-24, at the intermission.

In the second half, Defiance maintained its double-figure lead until the 16:28 mark when Bluffton went on an 8-0 run to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to just five points, 44-39, with 12:19 to go in the game.  The Beavers hung around and eventually tied the game at 61-61 with four minutes remaining.  Bluffton later moved ahead with its first lead of the game at the 2:49 mark and also had a 68-67 edge with 1:22 to go.  Following a missed jumper by Edwards on DC's ensuing possession, the Jackets got the ball back on a charging call with under 35 seconds left setting up a possible final shot opportunity for Defiance.  Senior forward Kent Tietje (Hamler/Patrick Henry) then connected on a layup with 10 seconds to go, but the shot was waived off as the result of a traveling call.  The turnover forced DC to foul and Bluffton converted both attempts to go up by three points.  On the Jackets' next possession, Shomaeker was fouled before getting a three-point shot off to tie the game, but instead sent him to the free-throw line for two attempts.  Schomaeker connected on one of the two attempts and would eventually end up with the rebound off of his own miss, but the final shot fell short giving Bluffton the 70-68 victory.

Bluffton was led in scoring by Thayne Recker with a game-high 34 points.  Andrwe Finley was the only other player in double digits with 17 points.

Defiance will look to rebound from the loss when it hosts Franklin (Ind.) College on Saturday, Jan. 17 as part of a doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's basketball team.  The women will also take on Franklin in a HCAC contest at the Karl H. Weaner Center beginning at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.