Shooting less than 40% from the floor and being nearly doubled-up in rebounding, the Jackets of DC lost to the visiting Mt. St. Joseph Lions on Saturday at the Karl H. Weaner Center.
Curt Croy, Aaron Lammers and Brett Hammons scored in double figures for DC with 19, 14, and 11 points respectively. Hammons was part of a squad of reserves that nearly brought Defiance back into lead after trailing by 16 at the 18-minute mark of the second half.
After a frustrating performance by the DC starters, five bench players, including Hammons, Ryan Bailey, Jason Smolenski, Ryan Farmer, and Jimmy Nicholson, sparked a 15-4 Jacket run that made the score 44-49 at the midway point of the closing period. Bailey, a freshman who had played 34 minutes of the JV contest, added fire to the Defiance line-up immediately with two lay-ins and an offensive rebound in a six-minute span. Hammons scored 12 points alone during that same stretch to bring DC back within striking range.
The Mount, with five players in double-figure scoring, went down-low when they needed to, scoring and forcing DC into fouls down the stretch. Matt Volkerding led the Lion attack that shot 54% for the game with 13 points. Attempting only 11 three-pointers, the Mount converted on seven of those, while DC shot 30% from long distance, going 8-for-27.
The Jackets were pushed-around underneath, getting outrebounded 43-22 and giving up 18 second-chance points. Tom Luther led MSJ with 10 rebounds, giving him a double-double, while Matt Laudick led DC with seven. All 25 of the Jackets’ bench points came in the second half, while the Mount ended with 27 points by reserves.
Defiance, now 9-11 (3-7 HCAC) on the year will try to propel themselves toward a late season run when they travel to Anderson University (8-13, 3-7 HCAC) on Wednesday. DC defeated the Ravens 80-62 at home on January 21st.
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