Yellow Jackets buried by Grizzlies’ 3-point shooting

DEFIANCE, Ohio — Three-pointers and scores after turnovers dug the Defiance Yellow Jackets men's basketball team into a hole against the Franklin Grizzlies at the Weaner Center, leading to a 111-77 loss on Saturday.

The opening 80 seconds of the game saw Franklin (4-3, 1-0 HCAC) knock down three triples off two Defiance (2-4, 0-2 HCAC) turnovers as the Grizzlies jumped out to a 9-0 lead. That barrage by Franklin continued the rest of the game as they converted 23 field goals from outside the arc and shot 55 percent for the game. The Grizzlies scored 30 of their 111 points off 16 turnovers by the Yellow Jackets.

It was all Franklin during the first 20 minutes as the Grizzlies took a 62-33 lead at halftime. They shot 58 percent from the floor as a team, went 13-for-25 from 3-point range, and turned nine Jacket turnovers into 15 points.

Right out of the halftime break, Franklin's Carter Crowe picked up right where his team left off when he connected on back-to-back 3-pointers after each team exchanged triples to start the half. Crowe scored a game-high 30 points aided by eight shots from outside the ring. He also had nine rebounds and six assists.

Franklin built up a 37-point lead, 73-36 at the 17:30 mark of the second half, before the Yellow Jackets surged back. A 14-2 Defiance run forced a Franklin with 14:10 left in the game. The Jackets chipped away further to make it a 20-point affair a few moments later, but two 3-pointers in a row by Ryan Bostic and Crowe followed by a turnover and dunk by Nathaniel Hoffman pushed the lead back to 28 for Franklin.

The Yellow Jackets, however, did not have bad scoring numbers for the game. They shot 43 percent, went 13-for-26 from the perimeter, were only minus-3 in rebounding and committed 16 turnovers, which are all better or matching their season averages. The difference was what Franklin did with their opportunities and capitalized on what felt like every Defiance miscue.

Te Jones topped the Yellow Jackets scoring column with 19 points, his fourth straight game in double figures. Marell Jordan followed Jones with 18 points and a team-high five rebounds. Landon Swanner also reached double digits with 11 points on three triples.

Aside from Crowe, Franklin had double digits from three other players. Bostic collected 17 points Trey Flatt had 16 and Logan Hudgins added 13. All three players made three 3-pointers. Jack Henricks did as well for nine total points. 

The 111-point effort by Franklin is the first 100-point game allowed by the Yellow Jackets under head coach Josh Gibson and the most points allowed by Defiance since their 139-133 loss to Greenville during the 2017 Purple and Gold Tournament.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday at Hanover for another HCAC matchup. Tipoff against the Panthers is scheduled for noon.

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