Yellow Jackets snap skid with wire-to-wire win over MSJ

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's basketball team earned their first conference victory and snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 71-57 win at the Weaner Center against Mount St. Joseph on Thursday.

The Yellow Jackets (6-12, 1-10 HCAC) never trailed in the contest and hit 58 percent of their shots while scoring 20 points off 16 turnovers by the Lions (6-12, 5-6).

The Yellow Jackets played a splendid first half that ended with a 38-26 lead at the break. DC opened a 10-4 lead over the first five minutes fueled by six points out of 6-foot-10 freshman Cole Wojciechowski. Te Jones sparked a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer at the 9:18 mark of the half that sent DC from up by two to a nine-point advantage in just over a minute. Jones hit a jumper just inside the arc followed by back-to-back Cam Martin lay-ins.

Defiance widened the margin to 14 points with 4:22 left before half after Marell Jordan sank a 3-pointer from the left wing to highlight his 11-point first half. Defiance shot 61 percent from the floor during the first half while both squads hit a pair of 3-pointers. The Jackets also limited their turnovers to four during the first 20 minutes while forcing nine out of the Lions.

Mount St. Joseph showed some fight early in the second half and clawed to within four at the halfway point. The Lions' leading scorer Luke Collinsworth converted a pair of buckets through contact that turned into 3-point plays at the 16:19 mark and again with 11:07 to play.

While fighting through an injured ankled, Wojciechowski knocked in three shots in the post over the next four minutes as the teams traded hoops. Jerome Johnson gave DC a boost with 5:14 remaining when he sank an open 3-pointer to extend the lead back to 11 points. After MSJ found a couple of scores to trim the lead down to seven, Johnson came through with a dagger at the 2:59 mark when he nailed a second-chance triple after his first attempt was kept alive on an offensive board by Martin. 

Wojciechowski set a new career high with 14 points for Defiance while going 4-for-4 at the free throw line and securing five rebounds. Jordan led the Jackets with 15 points and Jones joined them in double figures with 11. In all, 10 different players found the score column for Defiance. The Lions' top scorer was Collinsworth with 20. Dayne Gardner had 10 points for MSJ.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday for another conference home game against Hanover College. Tipoff at the Weaner Community Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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