ANDERSON, Ind. – Logan Wolfrum scored 28 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and added seven rebounds and six assists in the final stanza but it was not enough, as Defiance suffered its fifth-straight regular season road loss at Anderson via an 85-81 defeat.
DC's recent struggles during the regular season inside the O.C. Lewis Gymnasium carried over into the start of Wednesday's game, as the Ravens blitzed Defiance early for a 25-9 lead midway through the opening period of action.
The Jackets managed to withstand the early surge and trimmed the 16-point deficit to seven at the intermission, before a pair of triples from Wolfrum drew the Purple and Gold to within a single possession at 34-31.
Anderson pushed back by scoring the game's next six points but back-to-back buckets from Ryan Hicks and five more points from Wolfrum sliced the Raven lead to 42-40. The Jackets then drew even at 45-45 with 10:52 to play on a deuce and a trey from Drew Frizell.
DC would finally grab the lead at the 9:01 mark on a three-point play from Hicks, but the 50-49 Yellow Jacket edge would evaporate quickly thanks to an ensuing 17-4 spurt from Anderson over the next 3:21 of action.
The AU lead would remain in double figures until as late as the 00:37 mark of the contest, when Wolfrum fueled one final rally from the Jackets.
This time, Wolfrum poured in eight-straight points for DC to cut the margin to four with 14 seconds to play, before another three-point play by Hicks brought Defiance within three with three ticks on the clock.
Time would expire on the desperate final charge from Defiance however, as AU sank a free throw to finish off the 85-81 contest.
Wolfrum ended the evening leading all players with 32 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding six assists and one block to his totals. The 30-point double-double was the second in the past five games for the Defiance, Ohio native, and the 12-board effort marked a new career-high for the senior guard.
Wolfrum also continued his climb up the DC record books, jumping two more spots on the all-time scoring charts into 14th with 1,435 and moving into third in program history with 319 career assists.
Hicks provided plenty of support for Wolfrum, narrowly missing a double-double of his own with 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Frizell set another personal-best by netting 19 points.
Travis Schomaeker excelled in his first collegiate start, chipping in 11 points and one steal to go with career-high outputs of six boards and five assists.
Defiance (2-4, 0-2 HCAC) will not get a break from the schedule, as a red-hot Hanover (5-1, 2-0 HCAC) squad will invade the Karl H. Weaner Community Center for a 3:00 pm tip on Saturday, December 8.
DC's contest with Hanover will follow the women's game at 1:00 pm and all fans are encouraged to wear ugly Christmas sweaters to the gym.