Yellow Jackets lose conference opener at Manchester

NORTH MANCHESTER, Indiana — The Defiance Yellow Jackets were unable to recover after a sputtering first half at Manchester with an 86-76 loss in their first contest of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

The Yellow Jackets (2-3, 0-1 HCAC) trailed the Spartans (2-4, 2-0 HCAC), 45-28, at halftime before roaring back to within 10 at the close of the game.

Manchester scored the game's first 10 points before a Clayton McCorkle trey put Defiance on the board just over three minutes into the game. Defiance's offense went quiet for another three-minute stretch until Te Jones hit an outside jumper to make the score 17-6. The Yellow Jackets shot 28 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes with just one two-point field goal prior to the half.

The second half of the game was much more characteristic of Defiance's up-tempo game as the Yellow Jackets shot 48 percent to score 48 points and committed just five turnovers.

The rebounding and turnover battles were fairly even with Defiance coughing up the ball three more times than Manchester (15 to 12) paired with a 40-38 rebounding margin that narrowly went to the Spartans. The difference came down to an eight percent difference in shooting percentage, with Manchester at 46 percent and 38 percent for Defiance, coupled with the slow start.

Marell Jordan topped the Defiance offense with 15 points, all in the 15 minutes of the game. Te Jones added a dozen for his second straight game in double figures. Clayton McCorkle and Jerome Johnson each posted nine points.

Manchester was paced in scoring with 28 by Bryant Smith. Three others scored double digits. Smith knocked down five 3-pointers and Logan Willoughby hit four. Quentez Columbus flirted with a triple-double that included 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday for a conference clash with Franklin as part of a men's and women's doubleheader at the Weaner Center. The women's matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the men's game following at 3 p.m.

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