Defiance Defeated by No. 7 Wooster

WOOSTER, OHIO  --  The Defiance College men's basketball team was defeated by No. 7 nationally-ranked The College of Wooster, 98-63, in non-conference action in Wooster, Ohio.

Defiance (0-2) had one player score in double figures in junior Jonathan Ragland (Wilmette, Ill./Loyola Academy) who scored 11 points on four-of-seven shooting (57.1 percent).  Sophomore Noah Goodrich (Toledo/Genoa) and freshman Payton Ross (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) tied for second in scoring with eight points.

Senior Javone Hilliard (Indianapolis, Ind./Arsenal Tech) led both teams in rebounding with a game and career-high seven rebounds.

Wooster (2-0) scored the game's first 17 points and held Defiance (0-2) to just 24.1 percent (seven-of-29) shooting in the first half.  The Yellow Jackets tallied their first points of the game at the 14:52 mark with a pair of free-throws by freshman DeMario Hill (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Taft), followed by a three-pointer by Goodrich that got DC to within 12 points, 17-5, with 14:25 to go in the half.

The Fighting Scots answered the mini scoring run with seven straight points to extend the lead to 19 points, 24-5, with just over 12-and-a-half minutes left.  

Wooster continued to pull away and recorded its largest lead of the period of 32 points on two occasions en route to taking a comfortable 52-22 advantage into the locker rooms.

In the second half, the DC shooting improved a bit as the Jackets converted 38.5 percent (15-of-39) of their attempts.  Despite the improved shooting, Wooster increased its lead and posted its largest margin of the game of 43 points, 78-35, with 11:24 to go in the game. 

The closest DC would get the rest of the way was 35 points on several occasions with the last one being a 98-63 deficit with just over a minute remaining following a layup by freshman Payton Ross (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington).  The layup by Ross was the final points scored in the game as the Scots cruised to the 35-point victory.

Defiance will next travel to Ada, Ohio for a non-conference game against Ohio Northern University on Tuesday, Nov. 22.  The game will be part of a basketball doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's team.  The women will tip-off against the ONU women at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men at 7:30 p.m.