Strong Second Half Lifts Ravens Past Jackets

ANDERSON, IND. - The Defiance College men's basketball team headed to Anderson University on Wednesday evening. The Yellow Jackets fell to the Ravens by a final score of 87-80. 

The Purple and Gold found themselves in a tight affair with the HCAC foe as the sides battled for control during the first half of the contest. Anderson struck first, jumping out to a 13-9 lead with roughly 14 minutes left in the half. A Noah Goodrich (Oregon / Genoa) three kick started a dig into the Raven lead. Tyler Andrew (Indianapolis, Ind. / Lawrence Central) found his range with just under 10 minutes remaining to give DC their first lead of the half. 

Knotted at 34-34, Jordan Maschino (Bradford / Covington) found space in the lane for a layup to give the Yellow Jackets the two point lead headed into half time. 

Defiance came out of the locker rooms with a strong effort, scoring four points before 60 seconds had wound off the clock. The Ravens offense began putting a bit of separation between the sides before back-to-back three pointers from Andrew and Marell Jordan (West Lafayette, Ind. / Lafayette Jefferson) cut the game to just three with 4:31 on the clock. 

Down 84-80 with 39 ticks on the clock the Jackets looked to fight their way back to the lead. Ultimately, DC was forced to foul and Anderson was able to close the game out from the charity stripe, sinking three of their four last minute free-throws. 

Jordan led the way for Defiance, dropping 19 points, four rebounds, and three steals in the contest. The freshman's point total sets a new career high, beating his prior best of 18. 

Andrew, Maschino, and Devin Goodwyn (Detroit, Mich. / Chippewa Valley) each broke double digits on the stat sheet with 16, 13, and 10 points respectively. Goodwyn's point effort also set his new career high in a Purple and Gold uniform. 

The defeat drops Defiance's record to 2-10 on the year, with an 0-5 mark in the HCAC. The Yellow Jackets will return to action Saturday, Jan. 5 as they host Transylvania at 3:00 pm.