DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men’s basketball team will look to advance to its fourth Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Semifinal in the last four years when it hosts Franklin on Tuesday at 8:00 pm. All fans are encouraged to wear white as a show of support for the Yellow Jackets.

DC won five-straight games to close the regular season with a 20-5 overall mark and clinched the No. 3 seed in the HCAC Tournament with an 11-5 record in league action. Seniors Nick Sales and Mike Floyd headline the HCAC’s top-rated offense, as Sales paces the squad with 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals a night, while Floyd bolsters the attack with 11.2 points and 5.6 assists per showing. Sales and Floyd will likely be joined in the starting lineup by fellow senior Nate Conley, sophomore Anthony Brown and freshman Brandon Campbell.

Franklin has lost its last six games to drop to 8-17 overall and 6-10 in the HCAC and has not won a road game against a team with a winning record all season. Despite the struggles, the sixth-seeded FC squad boasts two of the most dangerous scoring threats in the conference, with sophomores Will Conoley averaging 15.8 points and Clay Starrett netting 12.2 points per game. That tandem is joined by sophomore Zach Merschbrock and freshmen Gunner Erwin and Blake Sutton in FC’s projected lineup.

The two teams met twice during the regular season and Defiance came away with a pair of lopsided victories, most recently scoring a 73-60 win at Franklin on Saturday after leading by as many as 31 points in the second half. The first meeting was on January 16 inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center and resulted in a 99-83 victory for the Jackets.

The winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal clash will head to the campus of Anderson University on Friday to take on the second-seeded Hanover Panthers (15-9, 12-4 HCAC) in a 6:00 pm tip. The winner of Friday’s HCAC Semifinal would then play for the HCAC Championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 7:00 pm.

Tickets for Tuesday’s 8:00 pm tip with Franklin will cost $5 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens. Children ages 11 and under will be admitted at no cost and all current students, faculty and staff of Defiance College will be admitted at no cost upon the presentation of a college identification card.

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