The Defiance College Yellow Jackets climbed back to .500 on the season, winning 71-58 at Mt. St. Joseph on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Curt Croy, a Ottawa, Ohio native, led all scorers with 21 points. Freshman Ryan Bruley, from Trenton, Michigan scored 15 points, while Columbus, Ohio product Matt Voland, a junior, scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Jackets earn win #7 of the year and their first in the HCAC.
Out of the gate, DC fell behind 15-5 and trailed by nine at 29-20 with five minutes left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets then went on an 18-4 run to close out the first half and gain a lead they would build on for the rest of the contest. Croy hit three of his four three-pointers during that five-minute stretch while Voland scored on a driving lay-up, was fouled and later hit a three to tie the game at 33-all.
Freshman Ryan Farmer scored nine points on the afternoon, including several momentum-building tip-ins in the middle 10-minutes of the game. The Wayland, Michigan native also pulled-down seven rebounds. Sophomore Matt Laudick, who ended with six points and seven rebounds, hit two free throws to ice the Jacket win with eight seconds remaining.
The Jackets tied the Lions in rebounding at 38 apiece. Voland and Farmer came off the bench to help DC outscore the Mount’s reserves 27-16. The Lions fall to 7-8 with the loss and are now 1-3 in the Heartland Conference. MSJ next travels to Bluffton College to face the 6-9 (0-4 HCAC) Beavers at 7:30 p.m.
DC, sitting at 7-7 (1-3 HCAC) hopes to build on their first victory of the new year when they host the 7-8 (2-2 HCAC) Ravens of Anderson University on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.