Men's basketball ousted in round one

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By Matt Muncy, February 25, 2010

This was the second time the two teams had played in the past four days. Defiance beat Franklin 73-60 last Saturday.

 

“I thought we played better last night than we did Saturday,” said freshman Gunner Erwin. “We were more aggressive and were ready to play.”

 

Defiance took the first lead of the game and never trailed the rest of the way. Franklin kept the game close most of the way, but was unable to overtake the Yellow Jackets despite tying the game three separate times.

 

The first half was pretty balanced as Defiance’s 10-point lead with 13:08 left was the biggest lead of the half.

 

Freshman Kyle Green hit a three-pointer to tie the game with 1:21 left in the half, but Defiance’s Logan Wolfrum hit a layup with 1:00 left and then a jumper at the end of the half to give the Yellow Jackets a 46-42 lead at halftime.

 

“We struggled defensively, but we were just not ready for some of the matchups we had,” said head coach Kerry Prather.

 

The beginning of the second half was about even – with Defiance leading by no more than six – until they went on a tear.

 

With 11:50 left in the game, sophomore Will Conoley made a free-throw to bring the Grizzlies within four, 64-60, but the Yellow Jackets answered with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes.

 

“We just quit playing with intensity and didn’t get what we need to get done defensively,” said Erwin.

 

Defiance was up 75-60 before the Grizzlies started their own run and lowered the deficit to seven. Despite the run, the Grizzlies could not hold off the Yellow Jackets who proceeded to push their lead to 19 and eventually win by 14.

 

Franklin shot 50-percent in the first half and fell off in the second half, shooting only 41.9-percent. The Yellow Jackets shot 60-percent for the game.

 

“Some of that is getting the ball where it needs to go, but most of it is converting it when it gets there,” Prather said. “You had a certain number of shots at the end where if you took the last four or five shots in the half out, we shot in the high 40s for the half.”

 

The Grizzlies also managed to grab 18 offensive rebounds.

 

Erwin led the Grizzlies with 19 points and eight rebounds, followed by sophomore Clay Starrett who had 17 points. Conoley finished with 11 points, while freshman Blake Sutton and sophomore Levi Holscher each added 10.

 

Nick Sales scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Defiance and Mike Floyd added 14 points.

 

Manchester College defeated Transylvania University in the other quarterfinal game Tuesday night 64-57.

 

The tournament now shifts to Anderson University where Defiance will take on Hanover College and Manchester plays HCAC regular season champion Anderson University on Friday.

 

The winner’s will play Saturday at 7 p.m. at Anderson University for the tournament championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.