Yellow Jackets overpowered by Anderson in second straight mid-week matchup

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Matching up within the HCAC on consecutive Wednesday nights, one of the few differences from the prior game was the venue as the Defiance Yellow Jackets lost their second straight meeting against the Anderson Ravens this season, 108-68.

The Ravens (14-4) continue to lead the HCAC with a 9-2 mark in the conference while the Yellow Jackets (1-16) lost for the 15th straight game.

TURNING POINT

Anderson erased a slow start with a feverish run over the second five minutes of the first half. Following the game's first media timeout, the Ravens made 8-of-11 attempts during an 18-5 run and expanded a four-point lead out to 17. Anderson bookended the rally with the only two 3-pointers during that run, one by Bryce Williams with 14:27 left in the half and the second by Jordan Gaddis with 9:40 remaining. Defiance handed the ball over four times during that run while being limited to two makes from the field during that five-minute span.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both squads struggled to shoot the basketball out of the gates. Defiance opened 1-for-6 while the Ravens were 2-for-7 before Tate Ivanyo sank a pair of 3-pointers to open up an 11-7 lead at the 15:58 mark. After the first media timeout, Anderson found their rhythm and started to create separation with the aforementioned hot streak from the floor.

The Yellow Jackets played even with the Ravens over the following four minutes and cut the lead down to 14 following a 3-pointer by Devin Goodwyn with just under eight minutes to play in the half. However, Anderson continued to capitalize on DC's misses with makes on the other end and opened up a 25-point lead by halftime.

Anderson closed the first half by shooting 53 percent (21-for-20) with seven 3-pointers compared to just one trey for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 32 percent during the first 20 minutes.

The Ravens shot a nearly identical 53 percent (19-for-36) in the second half as well and extended their lead out to as wide as 45 points. Anderson's 108 points set a new season-high for the defending HCAC Tournament champions, a mark that was previously 102 on January 6 at Transylvania and last week against the Yellow Jackets. The loss marked Defiance's third straight loss to Anderson in which the Ravens scored at least 100 points. Defiance also committed 23 turnovers in the contest, which was the fourth time this year with 20 or more, that led to 32 Anderson points.

Anderson's Tate Ivanyo surpassed 1,000 career points in the contest with the second of his three 3-pointers and notched 11 points in 21 minutes. As a whole, Anderson had seven players in double figures led by Bryson Huckeby with 15.

BRINGING THE STING

• Sherod Brooks led Defiance with 14 points, which was his fourth turn leading the team in scoring this season. He converted 5-of-6 free throw attempts and also secured three rebounds. 
• Landen Swanner tallied 11 points for his 11th double-figure scoring game of the year, which is also a team-high.
• Devin Goodwyn was the lone player off the bench to hit double digits in scoring thanks to a dozen on the scoreboard. 
• Jordyn Jury led the Jackets in rebounding for the fourth time this season with a team-best six boards.
• Defiance was limited to just five made 3-pointers by five different players, including makes late in the contest by Cole Wojciechowski and Landon Wells.

UP NEXT

Defiance spends the next three games on the road beginning with a 3 p.m. contest at Franklin on Saturday. 

-JACKETS-