MBB Preview: Yellow Jackets hit the road for the final time with visit to Rose-Hulman

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College plays their final road basketball game of the 2022-23 season by traveling to Rose-Hulman for Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference competition. Tipoff at Hulbert Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Jackets are 6-16 and 1-14 in conference play after losing 11 of their last 12 games. The Fightin' Engineers are in position to make the HCAC Tournament in a fourth-place tie with Transylvania at 10-5 in league play, two games better than the sixth and final seed Franklin with three games remaining. Overall, Rose-Hulman is 13-9 and has won four straight games.

Last time out, DC was outshot and outrebounded in an 18-point loss at Anderson while the Jackets surrendered 100 points for the second time this season. For Rose-Hulman, they took down Manchester on the road with a 93-92 overtime victory in which four different Engineers posted 18 points or more.

Both squads average 70 points per game offensively while Rose-Hulman is holding opponents to 67 per night compared to a league-high average by Defiance of 79.6 points. DC is the better shooting team at 44 percent from the floor this year while Rose-Hulman enters shooting 42.7 percent. The Jackets are second in the HCAC in 3-point percentage (36 percent) and knock down an average of eight per game.

Marell Jordan features the Defiance offensive attack with 19.2 points per game. His 1,524 career points rank 10th all-time in DC men's basketball program history and he stands 18 shy of moving into ninth (1,542 by Terry Morman). He is also tied for second all-time in steals with 177 and his 2 steals per game is third-best in the HCAC.

The Fightin' Engineers are led by senior Max Chaplin with 13.8 points per game and supported by Miles McGowen scoring at a 12.3-point clip. McGowen is tied for first in rebounding among players in the conference at 8.5 boards per night.

Defiance hosted Rose-Hulman on January 14 and trailed by just three points at halftime before getting outscored by 17 in the second half for a 77-57 loss. In the all-time series, Rose-Hulman leads Defiance with 21 victories in 35 meetings.

-JACKETS-