Yellow Jacket Men Beat Bluffton in Overtime

BLUFFTON, OHIO  --  The Defiance College and Bluffton University men's basketball rivalry lived up its reputation once again following a last second three-pointer by the Beavers to tie the game at the end of regulation, the Yellow Jackets prevailed in overtime to capture the regular-season sweep between the two schools with a final of 76-72 in Bluffton.

Also with the win, Defiance moves into a tie for first place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with Mount St. Joseph University.

Leading DC in scoring against Bluffton was junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) with 20 points on seven-of-13 shooting (53.8 percent) in addition to recording team-highs of eight rebounds and six assists.  Freshman Blake Dunbar (Napoleon) was second with 16 points and junior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) was third with 12 points.  Senior Wade Wooley (Wauseon) rounded out the high scorers with 10 points.

Defiance (13-9, 11-4 HCAC) never trailed in the first half and quickly built a five-point lead in the early minutes en route to having a six-point advantage, 18-12, at the 13:17 minute mark following a three-pointer by Dunbar.  The Yellow Jackets went on to lead by as many as seven points on two occasions in the period with the last one coming at the 7:50 mark with a pair of free-throws by Alexander.

Bluffton (10-12, 5-10 HCAC) then mounted a rally and outscored DC, 8-2, in the next 3:25 to cut the Jacket lead to a point, 28-27, with 4:25 remaining in the half.  Defiance gained some breathing room with back-to-back baskets that extended the lead to five points, 32-27, with 2:42 to go.  The Beavers would not let the game get away from them as they battled back to make it a one-possession game again with a halftime margin of 34-32.

Despite over 54 percent shooting by DC in the second half, Bluffton kept pace by shooting over 55 percent from three-point range which led to eight lead changes and four ties in the final 20 minutes.  The Beavers took their first lead of the game on its first offensive possession in the period on a triple to go up by a point, 35-34. 

The seesaw battle then began between the two squads with both teams leading by no more than four minutes within the first 10 minutes of play.  DC gained momentum with a late 7-2 scoring run which resulted in a six-point lead, 61-55, with 4:23 to go in the game that included three straight buckets by Alexander to end the run.  

Bluffton would again rally and found itself down by a point, 65-64, with 36 seconds remaining.  Following another basket by Alexander to extend the margin to three points, the Beavers hit the game-tying shot from well behind the three-point line making the score, 67-67.  DC would have a final look at netting the game-winner with under three seconds to go, but the final attempt grazed the front of the rim, sending the game into overtime.

Defiance opened the first overtime period with consecutive field goals to jump out to a four-point edge, 71-67.  Bluffton got to within two points in the final seconds, but that would be as close as the Beavers would get as the Jackets added a pair of free-throws down the stretch to seal the 76-72 victory.

Bluffton was led in scoring by Austin Rohde with a game-high 25 points.  Thayne Recker had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Austin Terrill completed the list of double-digit scorers with 14 points.  In addition, Jared Wentling grabbed a game-high 11 boards.

Defiance will look to keep the positive momentum going when it hosts Transylvania (Ky.) University on Saturday, Feb. 13 in HCAC action at the Karl H. Weaner Center.  It will be senior day and the game will also be part of a basketball doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's team.  The women's game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., followed by the men at 3 p.m.