Jackets Ride Brown and Wolfrum to Season-Opening Win

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Defiance began the 2009-2010 campaign on Sunday afternoon without its injured senior point guard, Mike Floyd, and put 79 points on the board behind 11 made three-point shots. The long-range attack led the short-handed Jackets to a 79-62 win at Kalamazoo.

Ayersville High product, Logan Wolfrum, filled in for Floyd in his first collegiate game and provided an immediate spark by hitting his first four shots from the floor and pouring in 10 of DC's first 12 points.

Wolfrum would sit out the final 13:56 of the opening half however, after picking up his second foul with DC facing a 14-12 deficit. Kalamazoo capitalized by opening up a 22-16 lead with 10:24 left in the half, before the Jackets finally found their stride.

Back-to-back layups from Kyle Tietje ignited the comeback and three-point shots from Eric Stolly and Josh Stuckey vaulted DC to the 26-25 advantage. Defiance's next two possessions were extended with offensive rebounds from Stuckey and the Jackets cashed in with a layup from Clayton Nieport and another trey from Stuckey to open up a 30-25 lead with 6:25 left in the opening half.

Nick Sales finally cracked the scoring column at the 4:10 mark and another bucket from the senior forward on DC's following possession boosted the Jackets to the 36-29 lead. The extended 20-7 spurt allowed Defiance to take a 41-35 lead into the break.

After surviving an up and down opening half, the Yellow Jackets dominated the final 20 minutes behind 30 combined points from Wolfrum and Anthony Brown. The backcourt duo combined for seven trifectas to lead a 38-27 onslaught by Defiance in the final period.

Wolfrum started the half with a three-point shot to open up a nine-point lead and Brown followed with a trey to push DC to the 47-37 lead just 1:10 into the second half.

After Kalamazoo had chipped the lead down to 56-51 with 9:38 to play, Brown took the game over. The sophomore guard slammed the door on the Hornets by scoring 14 of DC's next 19 points, fueling a 19-9 rally that opened up a 75-60 cushion for the Jackets. Defiance cruised from there, coming away with the 79-62 win.

Wolfrum dazzled in his first collegiate game, filling the stat sheet and posting team highs with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists from the point guard position. Brown scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half on five-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc and Eric Stolly added nine points.

Josh Stuckey and Kyle Tietje each played well off the bench, as Stuckey chipped in seven points and added a career-high seven rebounds, while Tietje logged eight points and seven defensive boards.

The play of Stuckey and Tietje highlighted a strong performance from DC's reserves, who outscored Kalamazoo by a 22-4 margin off the bench.

The Jackets (1-0) will be back on the hardwood on November 21 and 22, when they play at Adrian in the John Dawson Tip-Off Tournament. DC will begin the tournament on Saturday at 6:00 pm against Mount Union.