Swarm of 3-pointers propels Yellow Jackets over Adrian, 88-79

DEFIANCE, Ohio — The Defiance Yellow Jackets were lethal from long range with 17 made 3-pointers to take down the Adrian Bulldogs, 88-79, in Saturday's non-conference battle at the Weaner Community Center.

The Yellow Jackets (2-2) climbed back into the win column after back-to-back losses while the Bulldogs (1-2) lost their second of three straight games against squads out of the HCAC. The 88 points by Defiance matched a season-best by hitting 43 percent of their shots and 47 percent from outside the arc.

Defiance held the lead for the majority of the second half outside of 61 seconds of action. Adrian took a narrow one-point lead at the free throw line with 14:34 left in the game, but a Marell Jordan 3-pointer pushed the Jackets ahead for good at the 13:33 mark. Jordan clawed a steal on the next defensive possession and found Te Jones for another triple to increase the edge up to five. Desjani Beamon and Easton Lewis knocked down shots from downtown around the under-12 media timeout, but Adrian found a couple of answers and trimmed the lead down to 60-58 by the under-8 break.

The Yellow Jackets kept punching back and answered with a 9-0 run that built up a 13-point lead. Evan Conrad laid in his first points of the game to lift Defiance to a 66-60 advantage at the 6:05 point. Landon Swanner added a pair of free throws, then Jordan turned an Adrian missed 3-pointer into a made trey of his own before Jabryis Heidelburg swiped a steal and scored to force an Adrian timeout with 4:48 remaining.

Six different DC players hit 10 3-pointers during a contested first half, which ended with a narrow Defiance edge of 42-39. Clayton McCorkle, Jordan, Jones, and Jerome Johnson all hit multiple shots from outside the arc during the first 20 minutes, which also saw neither team lead by more than six points. Overall, eight different Defiance players knocked down at least one 3-pointer highlighted by four by Jordan, Jones' three, and one by Swanner to start the scoring in both halves.

Entering the contest, the Yellow Jackets had been outscored in the second half by 30 points combined during their first three games, but they limited their second-half turnovers to just four and bettered the Bulldogs by six points to close out the win. Defiance outrebounded Adrian, 42-33, while the Bulldogs hit more free throws (22) than the Jackets attempted (21). The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers to Defiance's 15 overall, and shot 43 percent for the game with five 3-pointers.

Jordan led the way for Defiance with a double-double, accounting for a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. Jones followed with a season-best 17 points and Swanner added 13 more to join them in double figures, both doing so for the second game in a row.

Adrian was led by Victor Sheffey's 20 points and De'Ovion Price added 18. Nick Seifert had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 boards.

The Yellow Jackets have an 11-day break over the Thanksgiving holiday and are back on the court at Manchester on Wednesday, November 30 for their first true road game of the season. The contest will also be Defiance's opening game of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

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