DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's basketball team ended its 2010-2011 campaign on a high note, scoring an 88-85 victory against Franklin on Saturday behind 31 points and a near triple-double by Logan Wolfrum inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.
Wolfrum sank 13-of-23 attempts from the field and added eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals to lead the Jackets in scoring for the 17th time this season. The fourth 30-point game of the year for the crafty sophomore was his second straight against Franklin, after torching the Grizzlies for 40 in an overtime win earlier this season and gave Defiance its seventh-straight regular season victory against FC on the planks.
The Jackets led throughout the majority of the contest and used a 10-2 spurt late in the opening period to open up a 37-30 cushion, after Wolfrum found Brandon Hoke for a layup to cap the run. DC would take that seven-point spread to the break, in the form of a 45-38 advantage.
Franklin stormed back with a strong start to the final stanza, using a 16-7 surge to take a 54-52 lead at the 15:36 mark and pushed the lead to 64-60 three minutes later.
The Grizzlies would not maintain the momentum however, as Defiance rallied back in front by a 71-68 margin. The two sides would trade buckets over the next several minutes, before a FC free throw gave the visitors an 82-81 lead with 2:35 to play.
Defiance took the lead for good on its ensuing possession, as Wolfrum found a wide open Leroy Lewis in the corner for a three-point shot that lifted the Jackets to a two-point lead. After Wolfrum pulled down a defensive rebound on the other end, Brandon Campbell collected an offensive carom and stuck it back in to put DC up by four with 1:16 showing on the clock.
The 86-82 lead would hold, as Kevin Tietje hit a pair of crucial free throws with 13 ticks left in the game to make it 88-85 in favor of DC and Franklin missed on its two three-point attempts in the closing seconds.
Defiance (13-12, 8-10 HCAC) clinched its fifth-straight season with a winning record with the third win in its final four outings of the year. Five players scored in double-digits for the Jackets, as Tietje had 11, while Campbell, Lewis and Ryan Hicks added 10 to support Wolfrum's 31-point outburst.
The contest capped a brilliant sophomore campaign by Wolfrum, who became the only player in DC's NCAA Division III era to log 500 points, 100 assists and 100 rebounds in a single season. The Ayersville High standout ended the year with 540 points, 133 assists, 126 rebounds and 144 made free throws for the third-highest total of made free throws, third-most assists and the second-highest point total in a single season in Defiance's D-III history, dating back to the 1990-1991 campaign. The only player to score more points in a single season during that time was a fellow Ayersville High product, Jaymes Zachrich, who netted 570 points in the 1997-1998 season.
The Jackets are poised to return all 15 lettermen for the 2011-2012 campaign with the hopes of returning to the top of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, where they have finished among the top-four teams in the league in four of the past five seasons.