Park keeps Jackets afloat early, Oberlin surges in second half

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets suffered their third straight defeat on Saturday with an 80-58 loss to the Oberlin Yeomen at the Karl H. Weaner Center. 

Defiance's sophomore forward Evan Park played brilliantly off the bench with a team-high 18 points and five rebounds. From the time he entered the game six-and-half minutes into the game, he helped bring DC within one at the halfway point of the first and was heavily involved in a two-minute stretch near the end of the first 20 minutes to bring DC within six points with 79 seconds before halftime.

Oberlin shot 51 percent from the field with just five 3-pointers while winning the battle of the boards, 43-31. The rebound disparity was built completely during the second half as both sides secured 17 boards in the first half and had near equal totals at the free throw line and beyond the arc to start the game.

TURNING POINT

After holding a nine-point lead at halftime, Oberlin pulled away early in the second half with a 9-0 run leading to a 23-4 advantage over the first nine minutes of the second half. The Yeomen went 9-for-16 to start the second half while the Jackets went cold, hitting 2-of-12 attempts while the scoreboard had DC down by 26.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both Defiance and Oberlin took some time to get warmed up as the first 1:43 went scoreless. Oberlin's 6-10 center Milun Micanovic broke the seal with a layup and Defiance answered with a Landen Swanner mid-range jumper. JJ Gray found a layup and hit a trey for the Yeomen to go up 7-2 while DC was in the midst of four straight misses from long range. Layups from Will Bousquette and Micanovic created an 11-2 tally before sophomore point guard Jakob Trevino hit a jumper to end the skid.

Gray and Swanner traded makes just before the under-12 media timeout. After the stoppage, Cam Martin split a pair of free throws before Oberlin went one-and-done on the other end. Park got going on offense the next trip down the floor. He hit a short jumper to make the score 13-9 and answered an Oberlin made layup with a 3-pointer from atop the arc. Park grabbed an Oberlin miss, then caught a pass from Ried Jury to score a layup to bring Defiance within one point at 15-14.

After Oberlin called a timeout with 9:10 left in the half, Defiance went 1-for-5 with three turnovers over the next four minutes with just a made jumper by Park. Meanwhile, Oberlin went 7-for-9 from the field and extended their lead to 32-16, the largest of the half, fueled by three makes at the rim by Anastasis Spyroglou, who finished as the game's leading scorer with 19 points. Oberlin kept Defiance scoreless between from 8:50-6:01.

The Jackets started to roar back once again after back-to-back jumpers by Swanner and a triple by Devin Goodwyn at the 3:51 mark made up. Goodwyn knocked down another 3-ball with 2:26 before the half to bring Defiance within 10. Park became the hot hand again after he snagged a missed Oberlin layup and drew a foul leading to a pair of free throws. Following a turnover by the Yeomen, Clay McCorkle found Park in the paint to trim the Oberlin lead down to six points, 38-32, with 1:19 left in the half. Spyroglou and Oberlin hit back with a layup and 3-pointer to send the game into the locker room with a 43-34 lead.

Defiance's slow start to the second half led to the fewest points in any half this season as Oberlin limited Defiance to 24 second-half points. Oberlin also dominated the boards in the second half, 26-14, highlighted by seven offensive rebounds. Gray set the tone with a dunk on the first possession for Oberlin as Defiance's Trevino missed a triple try on their end. Oberlin's next turn with the ball featured two offensive boards that led to a layup by Bousquette. Defiance's first make of the half was just before the under-16 media timeout when Swanner found the basket for his only points of the half. Park hit a jumper the next time down the court for Defiance, but Oberlin continued to turn turnovers and misses into points.

Leading by 28 with 10:50 remaining, many of Oberlin's top contributors made their way to the bench for the remainder of the contest. Oberlin's lead topped out at 30 points with 9:34 left in the contest. Defiance's Park and Goodwyn each canned 3-pointers on consecutive possessions before a media timeout at 7:53. 

BRINGING THE STING

• Defiance received 42 points from the bench, led by Park's career-high 18. The Unioto native also set new career bests in rebounds, field goals made (7) and 3-pointers made (2).
• Devin Goodwyn continued a solid start to his senior season with his first-career game in double-figures, in which he finished with 15 points thanks to five 3-pointers. His quartet of treys are the most in a game this season by any DC hooper and he made three of those shots in the second half.
• Swanner logged a 14-point afternoon, scoring 12 of those markers in the first half.
• Late in the second half, freshman Jaylen Jenkins scored his first collegiate bucket for the game's last points with 19 seconds remaining.
• As a team, Defiance's 22 made field goals were tied for the fewest on the year while also matching the lowest field goal percentage of the season. The 43 rebounds by Oberlin were the most by a Defiance opponent to date.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets open up the program's final slate through the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a visit to Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday, the first of five straight road contests. Tipoff against the Lions is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Harrington Center.

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