Men’s basketball opens conference play at Manchester

DEFIANCE, Ohio — A lengthy layoff for the Defiance Yellow Jackets men's basketball team ends Wednesday night with a trip to Manchester to kick off Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Spartan's Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

Defiance clawed their way back to 2-2 on the campaign with an 88-79 victory over Adrian on Saturday, November 19. The contest also marks the first true road game for Defiance after playing two exhibition games at Division I Oakland and Wright State earlier in the month. 

The Yellow Jackets boast the HCAC's top-scoring offense at 79.3 points per game led by Marell Jordan at 21.0 points per contest, the league's leading individual scorer. The scoreboard could be put to the test with Manchester countering the third-highest scoring offense among HCAC squads at 75.4 points per night with the efforts of Logan Willoughby (20.5) and Bryant Smith (18.8) clocking in at second and tied for third in scoring average. Defensively, both teams are giving up better than 80 points a night.

Other players to watch are Defiance's Kiewaun Graham, who has been a consistent second scorer and rebounder for the Yellow Jackets, and Te Jones, who is coming off a career-high 17 points off the bench against Adrian.

Manchester started the season 0-4 before getting an early jump on the rest of the conference on Sunday with a league victory at home over Transylvania, 86-78. The Spartans' four losses include a one-point home loss to Adrian, 67-66, on November 12.

The HCAC preseason coaches poll selected Defiance to finish sixth and Manchester ninth.

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