Kash hits four 3-pointers in loss at Manchester

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Defiance Yellow Jackets were dealt a 91-61 loss on Tuesday night at Manchester despite hitting 10 3-pointers, including four by freshman guard Heath Kash.

The Yellow Jackets (1-22, 0-17 HCAC) lost their 21st game in a row and trailed the entire contest after the Spartans (15-9, 12-5 HCAC) hit an opening possession 3-pointer.

TURNING POINT

Manchester dominated the opening five minutes by building a 19-3 lead as both sides started on opposite sides of hot and cold. Defiance opened 1-for-6 with Jordyn Jury's trey at the 18:54 mark the lone score during of the first five minutes. Manchester hit 7-of-10 attempts including five 3-pointers highlighted by a trio from Bryan Smith, who led all scorers in the game with 18 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Defiance started to get into the flow offensively when Devin Goodwyn hit a 3-pointer off the bench at the 14:51 mark. Goodwyn knocked down a pull-up jumper inside the arc a minute later to give DC a five-point jolt as the score reached 24-11. DC went cold over the next three minutes until Evan Park ended the drought with a hook at 10:28 before half.

Heath Kash infused the offense near the halfway point of the opening half with two of three offensive rebounds on a possession that ended with a layup by the freshman. He then started a string of three DC treys in under two minutes joined by Goodwyn and Dre'Sean Roberts to pull within 13 points, 37-24. Manchester went on to narrowly outscore the Jackets, 10-8, over the last 5:30 of the half as Kash connected on two more triples.

After shooting 52 percent during the first half, Manchester started the second half in a similar fashion to the first on a 14-5 run and made 6-of-10 attempts to go up by 24. Defiance mustered just a 3-pointer by Sherod Brooks and a Landen Swanner layup. The Spartans held Defiance to 29 points in the second half and made seven 3-pointers after halftime to stretch the lead out to as many as 32, 88-56, in the closing minutes.

Smith led Manchester's 15 3-pointer performance with four makes outside the arc. The Spartans also had a pair of double-doubles by Zach Sawyer, 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Logan Willoughby, 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sawyer was just two assists shy of a triple-double. 

The Jackets were fairly even across both halves by shooting 36 percent before halftime compared to 37 after the break. The one discrepancy was seven 3-pointers in the first half compared to three in the second.

BRINGING THE STING

• Heath Kash set a new career-high in scoring by leading the team with 14 points for his first game in double figures. He also tied three other players with three rebounds while playing a team-best 27 minutes.
• Devin Goodwyn was the only other Jacket to hit double digits in scoring with 10 points. He made a pair of 3-pointers during that effort.
• Sherod Brooks and Evan Park contributed eight points and went a combined 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Both Brooks and Parks secured three rebounds as well.
• Dre'Sean Roberts was the fourth DC baller to grab three rebounds and he scored seven points.

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets play their last NCAA basketball game on Friday at Bluffton. Tipoff against the Beavers is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Sommer Center.

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