ADRIAN, Mich. – Defiance headed to Adrian on Wednesday night for a non-conference clash and battled the Bulldogs to 14 ties and 12 lead changes, before suffering the 70-64 loss.

The Yellow Jackets threatened to take control of the game late in the opening half, as a Ryan Hicks jumper opened up a 25-20 cushion for the Purple and Gold. The DC lead would be short lived however, as Adrian closed the stanza on a 9-3 spurt to grab a 29-28 halftime edge.

The two sides remained gridlocked throughout the opening 10 minutes of the second half, battling to a 48-48 tie with 9:32 to play in the game, with neither team opening up more than a three-point lead during that span.

Adrian finally put together an extended run to take command, scoring the next eight points and using an 18-4 spurt to put Defiance in a 66-52 deficit at the 3:51 mark. The Jackets battled back over the remainder of the contest, closing to within four points with nine seconds to play, before running out of time in the 70-64 defeat.

The home squad connected on seven-of-10 shots from behind the arc and assisted on 17-of-24 field goals to fuel the offense, while also maintaining a 29-20 edge in the paint over Defiance.

Anthony Brown led the Jackets in his first start of the year, posting 16 points and six boards, while Kyle Tietje tacked on 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Hicks also excelled with 12 points and five rebounds.

Defiance (2-6, 0-3 HCAC) will look to snap a four-game losing streak on Saturday, when it gets back into league play with a contest at Franklin (4-4, 2-1 HCAC). Tip is set for 4:00 pm.