The Yellow Jackets of Defiance College earned a hard-fought victory over Franklin College, 83-81, on Saturday afternoon at the Karl H. Weaner Center.
On Alumni Day with dozens of past Jacket stand-outs watching, DC fought back from a 0-9 deficit out-of the gates and again after falling behind 16-29 with eight minutes left in the first half to finally take a 46-45 lead into the half. Curt Croy, who put DC up by three on a lay-up at the 40-second mark of the first half, ended with a game-high 29 points in 36 minutes of play. Junior Aaron Lammers followed Croy with 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Franklin’s Justin Castelli, their main scoring threat, was held to 12 points on the game. The Jackets’ tenacious defense permitted him to get off only two looks at three-pointers, both of which he hit. Darrius Jackson led the Grizzlies with 20 points, hitting three triples and went 7-for-9 from the charity stripe.
In a game that was slowed by the 58 called fouls, the Jackets built their lead up to as many as nine, with a 65-56 score midway through the final period. Sophomore Phil Blasko and junior Brett Hammons led a 10-2 Jacket run with two scores down-low by Hammons and two jumpers and a lay-in by Blasko. Franklin whittled away at the lead and eventually took a 77-76 lead on a Jackson three-pointer with two minutes remaining.
Lammers answered right back with a huge three-pointer that pushed the Jackets into a lead they would maintain over the final minute of the contest. After two Lammers free throws, senior Jason Smolenski closed out the game with two swishes from the line. A desperation three by FC’s Alan Davidson connected and ended the game at 83-81 in favor of Defiance.
Lammers’ 6-6 shooting from the free-throw line puts him at 96% for the season, hitting 47-of-49 attempts. The Leipsic native has not missed a free-throw since December 6th when he went 6-of-7 against Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.). The Jackets shot 47% from the floor today and hit 53% of their long-range tries (8-15).
Franklin shot 51% from the floor, 48% from behind the arc and hit only 68% of their free throws, compared to DC’s 78% free-throw shooting.
Defiance, now at .500 with a 9-9 record and a 3-5 conference mark, will travel to Manchester on Wednesday to face the 12-7 (6-2 HCAC) Spartans who defeated the Jackets 72-57 on January 14th.
Franklin will now take their 11-8 (3-5 HCAC) record into Wednesday’s home match-up with Bluffton College who sits at 9-10 (3-5 HCAC).
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