DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men’s basketball team will host OSU-Lima, Albion and MacMurray for the 36th-Annual Purple and Gold Financial Tournament on December 29 and 30 inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.

The Yellow Jackets have fared well over the previous 35 years of the event, logging 19 tournament championships along with a 54-16 overall record. Defiance has won at least one game in every tournament, while going 32-3 in the opening round, 3-0 in the consolation round and 19-13 in the championship game.

Defiance (4-4) will have its hands full in its quest for the 20th P&G Tournament crown in program history, as the much-improved rosters of OSU-Lima (7-8) and Albion (5-4) join a battle-tested MacMurray (2-6) squad to round out the field.

The Jackets will hope to continue their recent dominance inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center, where DC has won 15 of its last 17 contests behind 84.0 points per night on the home planks. Defiance has been especially tough on non-conference opponents in front of the home crowd, winning seven straight home non-conference tilts dating back nearly two years to a 93-79 victory against Geneva on December 30, 2008.

DC will face a young OSU-Lima squad in the nightcap of Wednesday’s opening round at 7:00 pm. The Barons have just one upperclassman on the roster and boast a 5-2 record inside the Ohio Regional Campus Conference.

In Wednesday’s 5:00 pm game, Albion and MacMurray will square off in what should be a physical and defensive affair. Albion has hit its stride with a 3-1 mark in its last four, while MacMurray’s current four-game skid has been extended by a pair of losses to top-20 foes, including a 53-50 defeat to No. 10 Augustana in its most recent contest.

All four squads will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 30, with the consolation game tipping at 5:00 pm and the championship game following at 7:00 pm.

Single-day and all-tournament passes can be purchased at the gates. Single-day admission will be six dollars for adults and four for senior citizens and students, while all-tournament passes will be sold for eight dollars for adults and six for senior citizens and students with identification.

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