Heidelburg's free throws give Yellow Jackets thrilling comeback win over Earlham

Jabryis Heidelburg was fouled with 0.05 seconds remaining in overtime with the game tied at 97. He knocked down both to give the Yellow Jackets an incredible 99-97 comeback win to defeat Earlham as the Quakers were unable to get a shot off before time expired. Defiance trailed by as many as 20 in the contest.

The Basics:

• Records: Defiance (7-17, 2-15) Earlham (5-19, 4-13)

• Location: Karl H. Weaner Center - Defiance, Ohio

Coach Gibson Quote:

• "I'm very proud of the effort the team put forth tonight. After a shaky start, different guys stepped up in different lineups at crucial moments. We had 13 turnovers in the first half that led to some easy buckets for Earlham, but the guys didn't quit and kept scrapping the whole game. Once we found a rhythm offensively, we were able to find a combination of guys who got some stops that we had to have defense to finally cut into their lead. It's a credit to all the different guys who stepped up, from JB to Rome to Te to Sherod to Swanner (and the list goes on). It wasn't just one group that gave us the chance to win tonight. It was the group that refused to get buried at the end of the first half, the group that started the second half aggressively, the group that played a whole lot of minutes consecutively to end the game, and even the guys on the bench who were bringing a ton of energy tonight. Hopefully we can carry over some positive momentum to Friday and allow these seniors to end their careers on a high note."

Inside The Numbers:

• Te Jones, Jabryis Heidelburg, and Sherod Brooks each recorded a new career high in points. Jones finished with 24, Heidelburg had 16, and Brooks had nine.

• Jerome Johnson was huge late and drained five from downtown to finish with 15 points.

• Landen Swanner finished with 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

• Heidelburg and Swanner each had four assists.

• Defiance drained 17 threes in the game compared to Earlham's three.

• Jaden Terry led the Quakers with 42 points and James Holder added 17.

• After turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, Defiance only turned it over three times in the second half and overtime combined.

First Half:

• The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over on their first five possessions of the game and that allowed Earlham to get off to a 13-4 run to start the game. Jakob Trevino had four turnovers and the other was a bad pass that went out of bounds by Cole Wojciechowski.

• The Quakers forced 13 first half turnovers in total and led by 20 with 7:27 remaining after two free throws from Jaden Terry.

• 24 of Earlham's first half points came in the paint.

• The Yellow Jackets started out slow and shot only 31% from the floor in the first half. 

• Defiance trailed 32-13 with 5:20 left in the half but finally came to life with a 7-0 run to get within 12. Jakob Trevino started it, Landen Swanner followed with a three and Swanner knocked down two free throws after a technical foul was assessed to Earlham's James Holder.

• Defiance trailed 38-28 at halftime and had cut that 20-point deficit in half.

Second Half:

• After the first media timeout, Jaden Terry made a layup to give Earlham a 53-40 lead with 15:16 remaining.

• The Yellow Jackets answered with another 7-0 run. Te Jones and Landen Swanner contributed as Defiance had trimmed the deficit to six with 14:06 left.

• Earlham's Joffrey Nunnally halted the momentum with a three to extend Earlham's lead to nine with 13:52 left.

• Defiance slowly started chipping away, but Earlham kept the Yellow Jackets at bay and still held a 71-61 lead with 7:54 left remaining after a layup from James Holder.

• Jerome Johnson hit two huge threes to bring Defiance within five but Earlham yet again had an answer as Tommy Makabu hit two free throws to give his team a 74-67 lead with 6:34 left.

• Defiance called timeout with 4:17 left, trailing 76-71. Out of the timeout, Earlham's James Holder converted a three-point play to extend the lead back to eight.

• After that, the Yellow Jackets were able to finally break through. Defiance scored five straight points to tie the game at 83 with 1:28 remaining. Te Jones hit a three and Jabryis Heidelburg had the game tying layup.

• Jaden Terry had an answer for Earlham and knocked down a jumper to give his team the lead again.

• Heidelburg answered seven seconds later with a layup to tie the game at 85 with 48 seconds remaining.

• Te Jones was fouled with 29 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game, 87-85 with 29 seconds left.

• Eight seconds later, Sherod Brooks fouled James Holder and Holder hit both free throws to tie the game.

• Defiance was unable to get a shot off before time expired.

Overtime:

• Defiance struck first with a jumper from Heidelburg.

• Jaden Terry hit two free throws to tie it up again with 3:22 left.

• Jerome Johnson hit a huge three to give the Yellow Jackets a 92-89 lead with 3:09 left.

• Johnson hit another three to give Defiance a 95-91 lead and Te Jones splashed a jump shot to extend Defiance's lead back to four, 97-93, with 1:17 left.

• Earlham answered with four straight points to tie the game. Tommy Makabu and Jaden Terry each scored. 

• Defiance got the ball back with 14 seconds left and Tommy Makabu fouled Jabryis Heidelburg. Heidelberg drained the game winning free throws.

Up Next:

• Men's basketball hosts Bluffton Friday night at 8 p.m. for Senior Night and the season finale. It is a doubleheader with the women, with the women's game beginning at 6 p.m.