DEFIANCE, OHIO – Just as any basketball coach hopes to see in the second half of a conference schedule, Manchester University head coach Gerad Good is getting significant efforts from his seniors.

A Wednesday, Jan. 24, trip to Defiance College's Karl H. Weaner Center proved the point. Senior guard Brody Kirby (Frankfort, Ind.), a game removed from a single-game career high 11 boards, came back with another double-figure glass cleaning effort, tallying 10 to go with 13 points, two steals and four assists for his first collegiate double-double. Fellow Class of 2018 fellow member Enis Becirevic (Fort Wayne, Ind.) caused just as much trouble on the host Yellow Jackets, pouring in 21 points for his third career 20-point-plus contest. A third senior player, forward Kenny Doss, Jr., (Chicago, Ill.), came off the bench for 12 points and five rebounds, while a fourth upperclassman, this time in the form of junior guard Adrian Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.), had a stellar night, too, with 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and two blocked shots.

Due to those facts and figures, the Spartans (4-14 overall, 2-9 HCAC) erased an early 10-7 deficit behind a 10-2 run and didn't look back in route to a 73-66 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory. MU's win continued to make interest of the chase for the 2018 postseason tournament, as they climbed over Defiance out of the cellar and moved within two games of Anderson University and Franklin College for the sixth spot.

Good's squad returns home to Stauffer-Wolfe Arena to open a three-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 27. They host conference tri-leading Mt. St. Joseph University in a 3 p.m. tip-off.