Men's Hoops Can't Hold Off Mount St. Joseph

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Despite leading by nine points at halftime, the Defiance College men's basketball team was outscored, 42-28, in the second half and fell to Mount St. Joseph, 72-67, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

In a tale of two halves, the Yellow Jackets shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field in the first half, including 50.0 percent (six-of-12) from three-point range, but were held to 34.6 percent (nine-of-26) shooting overall and 22.2 percent (two-of-nine) from long range in the second half.

Junior Devin Mangas (Leipsic) led Defiance in scoring with 13 points on six-of-eight shooting (75.0 percent).  Junior Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind./Northwest) was second with 12 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds.  Freshman Blake Dunbar (Napoleon) scored 11 points and junior Keandre Gilmer (Toledo/Rogers) rounded out the high scorers with 10 points.

Mount St. Joseph (6-5, 3-1 HCAC) led by as many as six points, 15-9, in the first 5:59 of the game.  Defiance (5-6, 3-1 HCAC) then went on a 9-0 scoring run capped by a three-pointer by junior Chris Holmes (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) that gave the Yellow Jackets a 18-15 advantage with 9:25 left in the period.

The Lions battled back to within a point on several occasions to end the half, but DC never relinquished the lead and eventually increased the margin to eight points, 33-25, thanks to an 8-1 run that ended in a jumper by Mangas at the 3:55 mark.  Following an ensuing 5-1 mini run by MSJ to cut the lead to four points, 34-30, Defiance ended the half with a triple by Dunbar and another bucket by Mangas to garner a nine-point lead at the intermission, 39-30.

In the second half, MSJ again rallied to within a point numerous times, but DC held firm until the Lions took the lead with 2:43 to go in the game as part of a 14-0 run for an eight-point advantage, 72-64, with 13 seconds remaining.  Junior Michael Parker (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) connected on a three-pointer as time expired to end the scoring, but MSJ had already secured the victory with a final score of 72-67.

The Lions were led in scoring by Joel Scudder with a game-high 21 points with 15 points coming from behind the arc.  Erik Edwards was second with 17 points and Travis Combs added 15 points.

Defiance will continue its HCAC schedule when it travels to Anderson, Ind. on Wednesday, Jan. 6 for a matchup against Anderson University.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.