Men’s basketball loses for first time this season after six wins

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Playing at home for the first time since Nov. 16, the Defiance College men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2019-20 season, 70-69, to the Oberlin College Yeomen in a non-conference game inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center on Tuesday night.

The loss drops Defiance to 6-1 overall this season while Oberlin moves to 7-3. The Yellow Jackets, who have already equaled their total number of wins from the past two campaigns combined, were trying to match the 2013-14 team that opened with seven consecutive victories.

After the hosts took their first lead of the contest at 4-3, they built a 17-11 advantage and never trailed again in the opening half. With DC up 42-37 at the intermission, the Yeomen started the second half with a 6-0 run to regain the lead and established their biggest advantage of the evening, 67-61, with 5:11 left. An 8-0 spurt put Defiance back in front, 69-67, but OC answered with a three-point field goal with 25 seconds remaining and the Yellow Jackets followed with a turnover in the final seconds.

Both teams ended with 23 made field goals, but Oberlin hit 12 from three-point range to DC's eight. At the free throw line, Defiance was 15 of 16 (93.8 percent) and the Yeomen 12 of 14 (85.7). There were only 17 turnovers in the contest, nine by the Jackets and eight by OC, and the hosts had a 34-30 edge in rebounds.

DC's Tyler Andrew (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) led all scorers with a season-high 23 points, plus had six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Freshman David Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) came off the bench to contribute a career-best 14 points while Sean Tyson (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) scored 12 to go along with game highs of seven boards and five assists.

Defiance returns to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play this Saturday when hosting Hanover College at 3 p.m. The contest follows the 1 p.m. women's matchup between the Jackets and Hanover.