N. MANCHESTER, Ind. – Logan Wolfrum finished with his second-straight scoring performance of at least 25 points but it was not enough to help Defiance keep pace at Manchester on Sunday. The Jackets suffered their third-straight conference setback with the 88-73 road defeat.
The loss dropped Jackets to 0-3 on the season in true road contests, as Defiance has given up an average of 85.0 points per game in those games. Sunday was no different, as the host Spartans racked up 17 assists on 31 field goals, while shooting 53.4 percent from the floor and nearly tripling DC's number of free throw attempts on the afternoon.
The efficient Manchester offense bolted to leads of 14-2 and 20-6 in the opening minutes, forcing Defiance to play catch-up the rest of the half. The Jackets were up to the task however, battling back to draw within 39-35 in the closing moments of the opening period before a MC trey pushed the gap back to seven at the break.
Defiance would start the second half with a hot hand, as Kevin Tietje opened the stanza with a hoop just five seconds into the action and Anthony Brown and Leroy Lewis followed with three-point field goals to bring DC within a single point. Another deuce from Tietje completed the comeback and lifted the Jackets to the 45-44 lead at the 17:57 mark.
The quick 10-2 spurt gave Defiance its first and only lead of the game, as DC's shooting touch quickly faded. The Jackets went on to miss their next seven field goal attempts and turned the ball over four times to fuel an ensuing 14-1 surge from Manchester. The Spartans continued to pour it on from that point, turning the 58-46 cushion into a 74-57 lead over the next six minutes.
Wolfrum momentarily brought Defiance back with a pair of trifectas to ignite an 8-0 counter, before another MC triple pushed the deficit back into double figures to stay over the final four minutes.
Manchester (7-4, 3-1 HCAC) ended with only three more field goals and three more rebounds than Defiance but the difference came in a 19-7 edge for the Spartans in points off of turnovers and a 19-11 advantage in made free throws.
Wolfrum led all scorers with 25 points, while Lewis added 12, Brown had 11 and Brandon Campbell chipped in 10. Tietje turned in another solid effort on the glass by chasing down 10 rebounds to lead all players in the loss.
Defiance (6-5, 1-3 HCAC) will hope to bounce back against Transylvania (7-2, 3-1 HCAC) on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. The game will be the second of a home doubleheader with the Pioneers, with the Lady Jackets hosting TU at 5:00 pm.