DC Men’s Basketball announces schedule for 2025-26 season

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's basketball team solidified its 2025-26 season schedule by announcing the program's 30-game slate on Friday. Heading into the team's second year at the NAIA level, a youthful and athletic team looks to build off an eight-win season a year ago.

The Yellow Jackets will start the year with a healthy dose of home cooking during the first three weeks of the year, playing 5 of their first 7 contests on Coach Marv Hohenberger Court. Following three straight home dates starting on Nov. 1 against Kent State Tuscarawas, one of those early away games will be the conference opener at Lawrence Tech on Nov. 17.

Defiance will host the 50th Purple & Gold Tournament on Nov. 21-22 with both the men's and women's teams on display. The two-day, eight-game event will feature IU East, Washington Adventist and Wright State Lake. The Yellow Jackets will also host Goshen and Miami-Middletown in home non-conference games, and plan to visit Miami-Middletown at the end of November for their only true road non-conference battle.

In addition to the 28 regular-season contests, Defiance will once again travel to a pair of NCAA Division I schools for exhibition games in 2025-26. For the second straight year, DC will travel to Oakland to play the Grizzlies, led by Defiance native Greg Kampe, on Nov. 15. On Dec. 22, the Jackets hit the road to Kalamazoo to play the Western Michigan Broncos.

The final 15 games on the schedule are WHAC doubleheaders with the men playing after the women's game. In total, DC will play a 22-game, double-round-robin conference schedule against the other 11 WHAC schools.

2025-26 Defiance Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 1 vs. Kent State-Tuscarawas, 5 p.m.
Nov. 5 vs. Goshen, 7 p.m.
Nov. 11 vs. Miami-Middletown, 7 p.m.
Nov. 15 at Oakland, 7 p.m. (Exhibition)
Nov. 17 at Lawrence Tech, 7 p.m.*
Nov. 21 vs. Wright State Lake, 7 p.m. (Purple & Gold Tournament)
Nov. 22 vs. Washington Adventist, 7 p.m. (Purple & Gold Tournament)
Nov. 25 at Cornerstone, 7:30 p.m.*
Nov. 29 at Miami-Middletown, 6 p.m.
Dec. 3 vs. Lourdes, 7:30 p.m.*
Dec. 6 at Siena Heights, 3 p.m.*
Dec. 13 at UNOH, 3 p.m.*
Dec. 17 vs. Indiana Tech, 7:30 p.m.*
Dec. 22 at Western Michigan, 1 p.m. (Exhibition)
Dec. 30 vs. Rochester Christian, 2 p.m.*
Jan. 3 at Michigan-Dearborn, 3 p.m.*
Jan. 7 vs. Madonna, 7:30 p.m.*
Jan. 10 at Aquinas, 3 p.m.*
Jan. 14 at Cleary, 7:30 p.m.*
Jan. 17 vs. Lawrence Tech, 3 p.m.*
Jan. 21 at Rochester Christian, 7:30 p.m.*
Jan. 24 vs. Siena Heights, 3 p.m.*
Jan. 28 at Lourdes, 7:30 p.m.*
Jan. 31 at Indiana Tech, 3 p.m.*
Feb. 4 vs. Cornerstone, 7:30 p.m.*
Feb. 7 vs. UNOH, 3 p.m.*
Feb. 11 at Madonna, 7:30 p.m.*
Feb. 14 vs. Michigan-Dearborn, 3 p.m.*
Feb. 18 vs. Cleary, 7:30 p.m.*
Feb. 21 vs. Aquinas, 3 p.m.*

*Denotes WHAC game

Quoting Head Coach Josh Gibson
I believe that we have a chance to surprise a lot of people this season if our maturity and chemistry can come together and match our talent and depth. We return the majority of the core group from last season, and that core gained a ton of experience through valuable game minutes last year. The staff worked very diligently to add the right puzzle pieces to shore up some areas of need and to add to our size, shooting, depth, and athleticism. We learned that we could compete in a very strong conference last season (4 WHAC teams represented the conference in the National Tournament), so in order to take the next step forward, this year's team will need the returners and new additions to mesh together quickly and securely as we go back to a true double round-robin schedule in the WHAC. Adding a second scholarship-level recruiting class should provide immediate dividends as we seek to build on the growth we experienced last season.

-JACKETS-