Late charge falls short in Yellow Jackets’ WHAC opener at Lawrence Tech

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A late second-half rally by the Defiance Yellow Jackets came up short on Monday night as the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils handed DC its first regular-season loss of the season, 70-59, at Don Ridler Field House.

The Yellow Jackets (3-1, 0-1 WHAC) were digging out of an early 15-4 hole all night, trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half. DC's defense clamped down coming down the stretch to create some extra possessions, forcing the Blue Devils (5-1, 1-0 WHAC) into 9 turnovers after halftime. Defiance took a timeout with 5:57 to play following Donovan Stone's jumper cut the LTU lead to 16. Out of the break, Grady Toumazos swiped a pair of steals on consecutive possessions that led to a 3-pointer from Carder Orr and a jumper of his own to pull the Jackets within 11. Toumazos capitalized moments later to cut the lead to single digits off a deflection by Carter Sudhoff. LTU came up empty on their end of the floor, opening the door for an Evan Angstmann corner trey to rally DC to within with six points with 1:56 to play. 

Lawrence Tech iced the game when they came back with a quick layup in addition to two sets of free throws off separate DC fouls, extending the lead back to 10 and 12 during the final minute of action. The Yellow Jackets missed their last two attempts from the field, both 3-pointers.

Each team's marksmanship defined the first half. Defiance and Lawrence Tech took 26 and 27 shots, respectively, over the first 20 minutes, but DC missed 11 3-point attempts to start the game while the Blue Devils fed the ball inside with 22 points in the paint before halftime. Lawrence Tech shot 56 percent and built up a lead of 19 before Sudhoff and Jalen Brown scored the final points of the half to go into the locker room down by 15. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The sluggish start on offense was buoyed by 4 free throws among the team's first 6 points.
• Defiance was held to one made field goal until the 10:15 mark of the first half.
• Defiance missed its first 11 3-point attempts until Jalen Brown made the team's first trey early in the second half. For the game, the Jackets went 3-for-24 from long range.
• DC turned around the offense in the second half, shooting 47 percent after a 31 percent rate over the first 20 minutes.
• Jalen Brown and Carder Sudhoff led the offensive charge with 12 points apiece. Sudhoff led the team on the glass with 5 rebounds.
• Donovan Stone and Grady Toumazos provided a boost off the bench with 8 and 6 points, respectively. The 6 points for Toumazos was a season-high.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets host the 50th annual Purple and Gold Tournament on Friday at Saturday at the Karl H. Weaner Center. Capping off a full day of college hoops that begins at 1 p.m. on Friday, Defiance takes the court against Wright State Lake at 7 p.m.

-JACKETS-