ADA, Ohio – Logan Wolfrum netted a career-high 42 points on Tuesday night at Ohio Northern, but it was not enough to lift the Yellow Jackets past ONU, as Defiance fell by a 93-90 margin in the double-overtime thriller.
Wolfrum was the story from the opening tip, as the sophomore scored 15 of Defiance's first 20 points to open the night and went on to post 23 points in the opening half. The Jackets capitalized on the scoring outburst to turn an 18-10 deficit into a 34-31 halftime advantage.
The two sides would trade the lead back and forth throughout the entire second stanza, and after ONU was called for a foul with one second left on the clock, Leroy Lewis missed both attempts from the stripe that would have sealed the Defiance victory.
DC rebounded from the missed opportunity to take a 77-73 lead, but Northern rallied once again with six-straight points to take the 79-77 edge with 55 seconds left in the first overtime. A pair of Anthony Brown free throws would tie the game at 79 all with 34 seconds to play, to set up another final possession for the Polar Bears. This time DC was whistled for a foul with three ticks left, but ONU returned the favor with two misses to send the game into double-overtime.
Wolfrum would try to take over from there, sinking a long three from the top of the arc on the opening possession on his way to scoring the first nine of the period for the Purple and Gold. Wolfrum's 41st and 42nd points of the night drew DC even at 88-88 and a jumper from Ryan Hicks gave the Jackets the 90-88 lead.
ONU (1-0) would not be denied however, scoring on the following possession to knot the score before using an offensive rebound and a put back to grab the 92-90 edge with nine seconds left in the game. Wolfrum nearly gave the lead right back to DC, as a long three from the wing went halfway down before spinning out and forcing the Jackets to foul with three seconds to play. The Bears would hit one free throw, before missing the second but Defiance could not get a desperation heave in the air, as it fell by the 93-90 margin.
The Jackets let the game slip away from the free-throw line, where DC missed 12 attempts on the night and only hit eight-of-16 in the second half. Defiance also allowed 14 offensive caroms to Northern, who converted the extra chances into 13 crucial points.
Wolfrum connected on 12-of-17 field goal attempts and knocked in all 16 free throw tries on his way to 42 points in 48 minutes of action. The point guard also dished out three assists and chased down five rebounds in the losing effort.
Brown joined Wolfrum in double figures with 16 points, while Hicks, Lewis and Kyle Tietje each added eight.
Defiance falls to 2-2 on the year with the loss, despite scoring at least 90 points in all four contests. DC will take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday before opening conference action with a home showdown against the preseason No. 14 and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference favorite Anderson Ravens on December 1 at 7:30 pm.