November 18

DC's Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Wilmington
Wilmington at Defiance Box Score

DEFIANCE, Ohio – A slow start proved costly for Defiance on Saturday night as the Jackets trailed by as many as 28 points before a late rally trimmed the final margin to 75-65 in favor of Wilmington.

Defiance struggled to hold onto the ball early and Wilmington capitalized by running out to a 16-3 lead as DC had six turnovers and only four field goal attempts in the first nine minutes of the game.

Anthony Pettaway finally netted DC’s first basket of the game at the 10:34 mark to bring the Jackets to within 16-5, but the Quakers continued to stymie the Yellow Jacket offense and built a 40-20 lead as the teams headed for intermission.

The lead swelled to 28 in the opening five minutes of the second half before Defiance rebounded and began slowly chipping away at the large deficit.

Defiance dominated the next nine-plus minutes to the tune

Pettaway was named to the All-Tournament Team.
of a 27-10 spurt to rally to within 11 points at 61-50 with 5:48 to play. WC’s Kerry Wilkinson momentarily stemmed the tied with a three to push the spread back to 14 but the Jackets refused to go away and eventually clawed to within single digits as a Pettaway layup made it a nine-point game at 72-63 with 43 seconds left on the clock.

A pair of C.J. Johnson free throws narrowed the gap to 73-65 with 33 ticks on the clock, but DC would get no closer as Wilmington held off the second-half surge for the 75-65 victory.

The Quakers were sharp all night long, sinking seven-of-11 shots from long distance and making over 52 percent of their shots from the floor. Wilmington also dominated the boards, pulling down 38 to DC’s 21.

Wilkinson led the way for Wilmington with 13 points while Nick Berter had 11 and Sam Lahmers added 10.

Defiance rebounded from a 31.6 percent shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes to shoot 37.5 percent for the game, but never found its stroke from beyond the arc. DC made just three-of-15 three-point attempts for a frosty 20 percent success rate.

Pettaway led all scorers with 15 points and added five rebounds in 37 minutes of work. Mike Floyd sank seven free throws and ended with 12 points, three assists and a pair of steals and Bryan Post ended with eight points and three dimes.

Following the game, Pettaway was named to the 2006 Purple and Gold Financial Classic All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting at a 61 percent clip from the floor. Joining Pettaway on the list were Wilmington’s Fred Harrison and Zach Broermann, Anderson’s Vynsynt Vann and Rodney Holliday and Thomas More’s Brad Buckner.

Broermann was tabbed as the M.V.P. of the two-day event while DC’s Bryan Post was awarded with the Gerry Boomer Sportsmanship Award.

Defiance (1-1) will be back in action on Tuesday when it plays at Heidelberg at 7:30 pm. DC will then return home to open its HCAC schedule against Manchester on Nov. 29 at 7:30 pm.

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