Men’s basketball outlasts Earlham in 3-OT win

RICHMOND, Ind. – On the road in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game, the Defiance College men's basketball team outlasted Earlham College, beating the Quakers, 99-95 in triple overtime, on Wednesday evening at Druley Performance Gymnasium.

Defiance improves to 10-6 overall and 5-4 in the HCAC. Earlham slips to 7-9 overall, including 3-6 in conference play.

In a contest that featured 17 lead changes and 10 ties, the Quakers took a 37-27 advantage, its biggest of the night, before the Yellow Jackets scored the final six points of the opening half. In the second half, DC soared ahead, 64-46, with 9:33 left but the hosts stormed back to send the game into overtime tied at 71-71. The contest remained all knotted up at 82-82 after one overtime period and 86-all after a second OT before Defiance finally pulled out the victory by making 4-of-4 clutch free throws in the final 16 seconds.

Both teams had 49 rebounds and shot an identical 12 of 33 (36.4 percent) from three-point territory. The Yellow Jackets were 23 of 28 (82.1 percent) at the foul line and committed just 13 turnovers, compared to 15 of 21 (71.4) and 14, respectively, for EC.

Marell Jordan (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) paced DC with 22 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, six assists, a game-best four steals and two blocked shots while Tyler Andrew (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) collected 20 points and seven boards. Micaiah Cox (Fort Recovery, Ohio/Fort Recovery) produced 18 points and seven rebounds while Sean Tyson (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) came up with 16 points, eight assists and seven boards. Freshman Jack Kolar (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) added 12 points off the bench.

Defiance is away from home again this Saturday to play an HCAC contest against Hanover College at 3 p.m. The game in Hanover, Indiana, follows the DC-Hanover women's matchup that is set for 1 p.m.