Men's Hoops Season Ends With Loss to No. 24 St. Olaf

WHITEWATER, WISC.  --  The Defiance College men's basketball season came to a close with a 68-63 loss to No. 24 nationally-ranked St. Olaf (Minn.) College in a second round game of the NCAA Division III National Tournament in Whitewater, Wisc.

Senior forward Bernard Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Warren Cousino) led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.  Junior forward Wade Wooley (Wauseon) and freshman forward Michael Kaminski (Medina) rounded out the high scorers with 11 points each.  Senior guard Travis Schomaeker (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) had a game-tying best four assists and fellow senior guard Mason Roth (McComb) added three helpers.

The first half belonged to Defiance (22-7) as the Yellow Jackets scored the game's first five points, all coming from Wooley on a three-point play and a layup.  DC shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) in the period, including 54.5 percent (six-of-11) from three-point range.  DC led by as many six points in the opening minutes, including a 12-6 margin at the 15:51 mark following a layup by senior forward Kent Tietje (Hamler/Patrick Henry).  Leading by two points with 9:46 left to play before the break, DC went on a 10-0 scoring run that ended in a Edwards jumper to give the Jackets a 12-point lead, 31-19, with six-and-a-half minutes on the clock.  St. Olaf (23-5) managed to cut the deficit back to single figures before the end of the half, but DC still maintained a 37-30 advantage at the intermission.

In the second half, St. Olaf shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the floor and outscored Defiance, 38-26.  The Yellow Jackets began the final 20 minutes with a layup by Roth to go up by nine points, 39-30.  The Oles then rattled off 14 straight points to take their first lead of the game, 44-39, with 15:55 left to play in the game.  St. Olaf maintained momentum and went on to build a nine-point when DC made a run of its own scoring 10 unanswered points, including eight of the 10 points coming at the free-throw line.  Edwards began the run with a pair of free-throws and ended the run at the charity stripe to give the Jackets a 63-62 advantage with just over two minutes to go.  St. Olaf scored on a layup on its ensuing possession which gave the Oles the lead for good as DC could not find the bottom of the net the rest of the way and was forced to foul.  St. Olaf made good on four-of-six free-throws in the final seconds to clinch a 68-63 win and advance to the tournament "Sweet 16."

St. Olaf went on to shoot 56.3 percent (27-of-48) for the game, including 55.6 percent (five-of-nine) from long range.  Justin Pahl led all scorers with 20 points, while Ben Figini scored 18 points and Sterling Nielsen added 14 points.