DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets shook off rust from a two-week layoff to move past OSU-Lima, 82-74, on Wednesday night and advance into the championship game of the 36th-Annual Purple and Gold Tournament on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm.

Despite the eight-point final spread, Defiance found itself in control throughout the night after an 8-0 spurt opened up a 10-4 cushion just 4:43 into the contest. The Jackets never trailed from that point on, taking a 42-34 lead to the intermission and using a 15-5 spurt out of the break to bust open a 57-39 lead with 13:30 left in the game.

The lead would remain in double figures and eventually climb to as many as 25 points with just over three minutes to go, before OSU-Lima closed the game on a frantic, 22-5, rally to create the misleading final tally.

Defiance aided the late charge from the Barons, turning the ball over 16 times in the final 20 minutes to lead to 22 easy points for OSU-Lima. The Jackets also shot only 33.3 percent in the sloppy final stanza to allow the visitors to stay within striking distance.

Anthony Brown led all scorers with 24 points, while Logan Wolfrum tacked on 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. Brandon Campbell also cracked double-digit points with 10 and Kevin Tietje logged a new career-high and led all performers with 16 rebounds in 25 minutes of work.

The victory was the eighth-straight home win for Defiance against a non-conference opponent and moved DC to 33-3 all-time in the opening round of its own tourney. The Jackets (5-4) will play for their 20th title at the event when they host Albion (6-4), who rolled past MacMurray by an 80-65 margin in the first game of the night.

DC and Albion will tip at 7:00 pm, following the consolation contest between MacMurray (2-7) and OSU-Lima (7-9) at 5:00 pm inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.