DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's basketball team suffered through its lowest scoring output of the season and scored only 25 points over the final 25:22 of action in a 57-55 defeat to Bluffton on Wednesday night inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.
The Jackets entered play ranked 40th in the nation and atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with 80.8 points per night but could not get on track against a smothering BU defensive effort. DC was also hampered by 19 turnovers and a 53.8-percent shooting performance from the charity stripe, despite ranking as the eighth-best free throw shooting team in the nation entering Wednesday.
The lone hot streak of the evening for the Purple and Gold came midway through the opening half, as Ryan Hicks knocked in eight points during an 18-6 DC spurt that turned a 15-12 deficit into a 30-21 lead with 5:22 left in the opening stanza.
The Jackets did not crack the scoring column the rest of the half, missing all five attempts from the field and turning the ball over five times during that span. Bluffton countered by knocking in eight points to draw within 30-29 at the break.
The scoring drought continued into the second half for DC, with the squad opening the final stanza with just one basket in six tries. The 1-11 stretch resulted in only two points for the Jackets from the final 5:22 of the first and the opening 5:25 of the second. Bluffton capitalized with a 14-2 advantage in that span of 10:47 and built a 35-32 lead with 14:35 to play.
Anthony Brown and Logan Wolfrum finally snapped Defiance out of its slump with six-straight points and a pair of Brandon Campbell free throws eventually gave the Jackets a 50-45 lead. The offense would wilt down the stretch once again however, as a three-point play from Wolfrum at the 4:06 mark gave DC its last hoop of the night and the 53-48 lead.
The Jackets missed their final three field goal attempts and committed two more turnovers over the final four minutes, allowing BU to finally draw even at 53-53 with 1:22 left in the game. A pair of Mychal Hill free throws gave the Beavers their first lead since the 9:52 mark but Wolfrum connected on a pair of his own to knot the score at 55-55 with 45 ticks remaining.
DC's defense dug in and forced Bluffton into a rushed attempt at the end of its shot-clock, but the attempt bounced off the front rim with 13 seconds left and deflected back out to the top of the arc, where Hill scooped it up. The Beavers then ran the clock down until Hill fired up a contested fade-away from the wing that found the bottom of the net with .8 seconds left to stun Defiance and lift Bluffton (12-4, 5-4 HCAC) to the 57-55 victory.
Hicks was the star for DC in the losing effort, as the rookie sank seven-of-11 tries for 14 points and added 10 defensive rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist in 37 minutes for his second collegiate double-double. Wolfrum played all 40 minutes and posted his eighth 20-point effort of the year with 21, while adding five boards, four assists, three blocks and a pair of thefts.
Defiance (10-6, 5-4 HCAC) will look to rebound from its fourth loss of the year by four points or fewer when it welcomes Rose-Hulman (11-5, 5-4) on Saturday at 3:00 pm. The game will follow the women's contest between DC and Rose-Hulman at 1:00 pm.