Men's Hoops Wins Thriller Against Rose-Hulman

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Senior Wade Wooley (Wauseon) scored the game's final four points, all at the free-throw line, which resulted in a 67-64 victory for the Defiance College men's basketball team against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

Defiance had three players score in double figures led by junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) with a game-high 20 points on 53.8 percent shooting (seven-of-13).  He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.  Junior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) was second in scoring with 13 points and freshman Adam Ney (Vandalia/Vandalia Butler) rounded out the high scorers with 10 points.  Wooley finished the game with six points and grabbed eight boards.

Rose-Hulman (7-8, 4-4 HCAC) led for the entire first half and scored on back-to-back possessions to begin the game to grab the early lead.  The Pioneers quickly built a seven point advantage, but Defiance (8-7, 6-2 HCAC) fought back to within three points on several occasions, including a 22-19 deficit at the 10:18 mark following a jumper by junior Devin Mangas (Leipsic).

The Pioneers gained some breathing room with an ensuing 7-2 scoring run en route to taking an eight-point advantage with 6:44 left before halftime.  Rose-Hulman went on to lead by as many as 10 points in the period and had an eight-point margin, 40-32, at the break.

In the second half, Defiance outscored Rose-Hulman, 35-24, for the period and took its first lead of the game at the 12:03 mark on a pair of free-throws by Alexander as part of a 15-6 run to begin the half. The two teams then went back-and-forth the rest of the way with neither team leading by more than six points.

DC recorded its six-point lead, 61-55, thanks to a jumper by Alexander with just over five minutes to go.  Rose-Hulman answered with seven straight points to move ahead on the scoreboard, 62-61, with a minute-and-a-half remaining.

Trailing by a point, Wooley came up with a pivotal defensive rebound off of a missed three-point attempt by the Pioneers and was fouled on the play, sending Wooley to the free-throw line.  He would convert both attempts to give DC the lead, 65-64, with 20 seconds left.

Rose-Hulman had two final attempts to take the lead in the final seconds, but would come up short on both attempts.  Wooley came down with yet another crucial rebound which led to another Pioneer foul sending him back to the charity stripe with under two seconds on the clock.

Wooley came up big again for DC, converting both of his attempts to increase the margin to 67-64.  The Pioneers were forced into a full-court in-bound pass, but Alexander stepped in front of the pass for the steal and sealed the win for the Yellow Jackets.

Rose-Hulman shot an impressive 56.5 percent (26-of-46) for the game and was led in scoring by Tyler Duffy with 14 points.  Dillon Reynolds was second with 13 points and Jimmy Miller added 11 points.

Defiance will wrap-up its three-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Bluffton University in a HCAC doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's team on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at the Weaner Center.  The women's game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., followed by the men at 8 p.m.