DC Men Claim Share of HCAC Season Title on Buzzer Beater

TERRE HAUTE, IND.  --  Junior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) connected on the game-winning shot with seven tenths of a second remaining to give the Defiance College men's basketball team a 73-72 win against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology and a share of the Heartland Collegiate Conference regular-season championship.

Defiance also rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to claim the win.  The Yellow Jackets shot 77.8 percent (21-of-27) in the second period, including 57.1 percent (four-of-seven) from three-point range.   DC was led in scoring by junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) with 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting (68.8 percent).  Junior Devin Mangas (Leipsic) was second with 16 points with 12 points coming from behind the arc.

Parker finished the game with 12 points and junior Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) rounded out the high scorers with 11 points.  

Defiance (15-10, 13-5 HCAC) led early by six points, 11-5, at the 16:27 minute mark following a jumper by Alexander.  Rose-Hulman (15-10, 12-6 HCAC) answered with nine straight points to take a 14-11 advantage with 14:23 left before halftime.  The Fightin' Engineers led the rest of the period and built their lead to as many as eight points on several occasions, including a halftime score of 34-26.

Rose-Hulman maintained a lead for the majority of the second half and went on to record their largest margin of the game of 11 points, 42-31, early in the period.  The Engineers then equaled their largest lead three more times with the last one coming with 10:54 to go in the game, 59-48.  

DC began to chip away at the deficit and made it a one-possession game, 65-63, with just under five-and-a-half minutes to go on another jumper by Alexander.  DC's next points came off the hands of senior Wade Wooley (Wauseon) on a jumper and then Mangas connected on a pair of critical three-pointers that put the Jackets out in front, 71-70, with 2:35 left.  

The Engineers regained control on their ensuing possession with a pair of free-throws making the score 72-71.  The two free-throws would be the final points until the end despite scoring opportunities by both teams.  With two seconds remaining, DC would be sent to the free-throw line on an one-and-one opportunity to tie or take the lead.  The Jackets missed the first shot, but junior Javon Hilliard (Indianapolis, Ind./Arsenal Tech) came up with a pivotal offensive rebound to keep hope alive for DC.

On the ensuing in-bounds play with less than a second remaining, Parker came free and launched a shot from just inside the three-point line along the baseline that fell through the hoop as time expired, sealing the come-from-behind victory for Defiance, 73-72. 

Rose-Hulman was led in scoring by Dillon Reynolds with 20 points.  Matt Losesing and Jimmy Miller were second with 12 points each and Tyler Duffy added 11 points.

Defiance will be the top-seeded team in the HCAC Men's Basketball Tournament via a tiebreaker and will host the tournament for the second straight year.  This year's tourney will be played on Friday through Sunday, Feb. 26-28 with the Jackets playing on Saturday and will face the winner of No. 4 Rose-Hulman vs. No. 5 Manchester (Ind.) University at 5 p.m. at the Karl H. Weaner Center.