Men's Hoops Suffers First Home Loss of the Season

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Three days after defeating the No. 10 team in the nation by 16 points in front of a home crowd, the Defiance College men's basketball team took its first loss of the year inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center courtesy of a 78-70 defeat to Hanover.

DC entered the game averaging 96.3 points over its last six home contests but was stymied by the top-rated defensive team in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Panthers derailed the Jackets' fast-paced offense by slowing the tempo and forcing a half-court game on Defiance.

The strategy helped Hanover battle to a 29-29 tie at the break and kept the Jackets from pulling away, despite holding at least a share of the lead for the opening 8:59 of the second stanza.

With the HC defense doing its job, the Panthers began systematically picking apart the Defiance defense over the game's final 11 minutes. Taylor Dial's jumper in the lane lifted Hanover to its first lead of the half at 51-50 with 11:01 left and the Panthers methodically widened the gap to 64-58 with just 6:11 left to play.

Defiance fought to keep HC within striking distance but could never muster one of its patented spurts against the Panther defense, and eventually fell 78-70.

The Yellow Jackets did force 17 Hanover miscues that led to 28 points but could not break through in the set offense and let several scoring opportunities slip by on multiple misses around the basket and a rare five-of-13 performance from the free throw line.

Hanover (10-9, 7-4 HCAC) countered by running its half-court sets nearly flawlessly the entire second half, sinking 17-of-24 field goals in the final 20 minutes, while converting 13-of-16 free throws.

Nick Sales and Logan Wolfrum were the two bright spots for the Jackets, as Sales recorded his 24th career double-double in his 100th collegiate game with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists and Wolfrum ended with 17 points and six assists.

Defiance (15-5, 6-5 HCAC) falls to sixth place in the HCAC with the loss. The Jackets will be back in action on Wednesday at 8:00 pm at Manchester (12-7, 6-4 HCAC).