Defiance picks up second straight win with overtime triumph at Miami-Middletown

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance Yellow Jackets earned their second straight victory with a 75-67 overtime win behind a double-double by Carter Sudhoff against the Miami-Middletown ThunderHawks on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets (5-9, 2-6 WHAC) are off to a 2-0 start to January following their first overtime game of the season. The ThunderHawks (0-17) remain winless and suffered their second loss to Defiance this season following an earlier defeat at the Purple and Gold Tournament.

Sudhoff posted the third double-double of the season for Defiance with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. The freshman post also led a 52-31 advantage on the glass for the visiting Yellow Jackets, who shot 38 percent for the game. Evan Angstmann had 16 points and Devonte Curry added 10 more to give the Jackets three players in double figures during the win.

The two sides played to a low-scoring first half with Miami-Middletown entering the locker room with the upper hand, 25-21. Devonte Curry put Defiance ahead on a corner 3-pointer with 2:40 before halftime but the ThunderHawks answered with a pair of treys before the break.

DC's big men put in the work for the Yellow Jackets' second-half comeback with Sudhoff and Angstmann doing some heavy lifting during the second half. Defiance picked up the lead right out of the break with a layup and free throw by Sudhoff before a baseline drive to the hoop by Angstmann regained the lead. The post duo continued to pour in buckets from inside and outside the arc, including a straightaway triple by Sudhoff to give the Jackets a 53-47 lead. Zahyem Bradwell added a number of critical points as well during the middle stretch of the second half and finished with eight points. Defiance built a nine-point lead to 60-51 in the final minutes but that was not enough to keep the ThunderHawks away. Miami-Middletown closed the final minutes on a 12-3 run to erase DC's lead and force overtime.

The Yellow Jackets posted eight of the first nine points in the extra period and went on to outscore the ThunderHawks 13-4 to close the game.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets return to the court on Saturday and begin the final 12-game stretch of conference games within the WHAC. Saturday's contest is at Cleary for a 3 p.m. tipoff against the 2-11 Cougars at Gannon Gymnasium at Lansing Community College.

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