In the biggest win of Jon Miller’s young head coaching career, the Defiance College Yellow Jackets defeated #15-ranked Hanover College on Saturday afternoon at the Karl H. Weaner Center on the campus of Defiance College, 67-61.
The Jackets earned Miller his first win over his mentor, Dr. Mike Beitzel of HC, by outscoring the Panters 38-31 in the second half. DC, led by Curt Croy’s 22 points, hit 53% of their three-pointers and 88% from the free-throw line. C.J. Johnson and Matt Laudick also hit for double figures with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Hanover was led by Matt Moore’s 17 points.
Outsized by the Hanover front line, the Jacket big men still found a way to grab 30 boards compared to 31 for the Panthers. Laudick led DC on the glass with seven boards, while pressure defense by Johnson and Croy on the perimeter limited the Panthers’ ability to get the ball inside and allowed just 2-for-2 free throw shooting by the visitors, while DC hit 21-of-24 from the charity stripe.
Hanover led at the half, 30-29 after a buzzer-beating triple by Nate Minyard. The Jackets previously took their second lead of the game, 29-27, on two Johnson free-throws with seven seconds remaining in the first period.
At the 15-minute mark of the second half, DC embarked on a two-and-a-half minute, 10-2 run, giving them a 52-44 lead on Bryan Post’s second triple of the game. Matt Voland’s lay-up with eight minutes left gave Defiance their biggest lead of the game, nine.
A late Panther run was held off by perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the line by Croy and Johnsonin the final 24 seconds.
Defiance is now 10-13 on the year and 3-9 in the Heartland Conference. The Jackets next travel to Bluffton University on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
###