Defiance Men Rally Past OWU for Third Tournament Title

SALEM, Va. – The Defiance College men's basketball team continued its strong tournament play in 2009-2010, topping Ohio Wesleyan, 64-56, to improve to 6-0 in tournament action and claim the Roanoke Domino's New Year's Classic for its third championship of the season.

The Jackets saw its potent offense limited to just 64 points by the Bishops but answered by holding OWU to 20 points in the second half to help overcome an early 11-point deficit.

A 9-0 rally from Ohio Wesleyan highlighted its early surge, as the Jackets watched the Bishops charge to the 25-14 advantage with 8:30 left in the opening half. DC battled back with a long-range assault, as Logan Wolfrum's second three was followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Brandon Campbell to narrow the gap to 27-21.

Anthony Brown then connected on a pair of treys to give Defiance the 29-27 lead, but Ohio Wesleyan closed the opening stanza on a 9-3 spurt to take the 36-32 lead into intermission.

The second half showcased more back and forth action, as the teams battled to a 42-42 gridlock until a four-point play from Heath Armstrong lifted the Jackets to the 46-42 lead with 13:03 left in the game.

OWU would not go away however, and rallied once again to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:40 showing on the clock. Mike Floyd then took over, scoring six of the game's next eight points to build a 62-54 DC lead and send the Purple and Gold to the 64-56 victory.

Floyd ended the game with 12 points and five assists, while Kyle Tietje logged a team-high 14 points and Brown added 12. Nick Sales and Campbell anchored the stout Yellow Jacket defense with three steals each, and helped limit OWU to just 26.1 shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Floyd claimed his second-straight Most Valuable Player honor, after leading DC with 14.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in the Jackets' two victories. Floyd was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Kyle Tietje, who averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 boards and 1.0 blocks per outing.

Defiance (11-2, 2-2 HCAC) will look to climb over the .500 mark in league play and extend its current five-game winning streak when it travels to Transylvania (7-5, 3-1 HCAC) on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.