Defiance Advances to HCAC Finals With 72-59 Win

ANDERSON, Ind. – The Defiance College men's basketball team defeated the second-seeded Hanover Panthers, 72-59, on Friday night in the HCAC Semifinals to earn the right to play for the HCAC Tournament Championship for the third time in the last four seasons.

The Yellow Jackets used a 10-0 run deep into the second half to separate from Hanover and secure the 13-point victory. The win moves Defiance to 22-5 on the year and sets a program record for the most victories in a single-season during the NCAA Division III era which began at DC prior to the 1991-1992 season.

Unlike its previous two meetings with the Panthers this year, DC took the lead early and was able to force the action, while consistently getting good looks against the HCAC's top-rated defense.

The 8-4 cushion would evaporate however, as Hanover knocked down a pair of quick three's on its way to the 18-16 lead but Anthony Brown found the twine from the corner for DC's first trifecta of the night to put Defiance back up 19-18 with 5:47 left to play in the opening half.

With the game knotted at 21-21, Defiance used an 11-2 rally to distance itself. The spurt started with a trey from Heath Armstrong, before Nick Sales extended the lead to 27-21 with an old-fashioned three-point play in the lane. Brown then connected on a floater to push the gap to 29-21, before breaking the Panther press with a three-point shot from the corner to make it 32-23 with 2:30 remaining before the half.

Brown had the hot hand the entire first half and led Defiance to the 38-29 lead at the break with 12 points on five-of-six shooting from the field. Sales also played well and posted 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.

DC's lead would swell to double figures at 40-29 and again at 42-31 to open the final stanza, but the Panthers would storm back to draw even at 46-46 on the strength of a rapid fire 15-4 surge.

The Jackets would not fold in the face of the pressure, as Logan Wolfrum led a 6-0 counter from Defiance with four points and an assist to Kevin Tietje to put DC back in front by the 54-48 score with 9:02 on the clock.

Hanover would rally one final time to draw within three points with 3:23 left, but Defiance held strong and pushed the lead back into double figures on a pair of buckets from Sales and long-distance dagger from Wolfrum.

Brown would then sink a pair of free throws and a Sales free throw would cap the 10-0 spurt that put DC up, 70-57, with 37 seconds left and sent the Jackets on their way to the 72-59 victory.

Brown and Sales came up huge for Defiance, as the duo each turned in 20-point games to account for 40 of DC's 72 points on the night. Wolfrum also cracked double figures with 11 points to go with a game-high five assists, while Mike Floyd played well defensively and added six points and four dimes in 35 minutes of action.

Defiance will be eyeing its fourth NCAA National Tournament appearance in program history and its 26th conference crown when it takes the court inside of Anderson's O.C. Lewis Gymnasium on Saturday at 7:00 pm.

The Jackets, who last claimed the HCAC Tournament Title with a 104-97 win over Manchester in 2001, will play the top-seeded Anderson Ravens in the championship game. AU survived a 64-63 game against the fourth-seeded Manchester Spartans in Friday's second semifinal.

Defiance split its head-to-head series with Anderson, falling 88-70 at Anderson on December 2, before scoring a 91-75 over the Ravens on January 27. That win over AU inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center snapped Anderson's school-record 14-game win streak and dropped the Ravens from their No. 10 ranking in the top-25 national poll.