Pettaway Powers Yellow Jackets Past Anderson

ANDERSON, Ind. – Anthony Pettaway recorded his second-straight double-double and scored in double figures for the fifth time in as many games this season, pushing Defiance to a 62-60 win at Anderson on Saturday with 24 points, 12 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Nick Sales also racked up his second double-double in the last two games, turning in 11 points, 13 boards and two blocks and C.J. Johnson went for 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Defiance got out of the gates to the early 5-0 lead behind five points from Johnson and quickly pushed the spread to 19-6 with 12:41 to play in the opening half.

The Ravens battled back throughout the remainder of the half and eventually drew even at 24-24 on a Ryan Fultz jumper with 51 ticks on the clock, but a Johnson free throw sent DC to the lockers with a slim 25-24 edge.

Anderson claimed its first lead of the game – ending a steak of over 62 consecutive minutes in which the Jackets held or shared the lead dating back to their 87-82 overtime victory at Heidelberg on Nov. 21 – 13 seconds into the second half and extended the margin to three points on two occasions before Defiance rallied back with an 8-0 spurt to reclaim the 37-32 with 14:19 to play in the game.

Pettaway led the surge, scoring six unanswered points before a layup from Sales pushed the spread to five points.

AU’s Matt McCullar ended the Jackets’ rally with a bucket before a successful Mike Floyd attempt from the charity stripe pushed the DC margin back to four points.

Neither side led by more than three points from that point on as the teams played through six ties and six lead changes over the game’s final 13 minutes.

With 2:54 left in the game, Anderson forced the eighth tie of the game on a free throw from Tyler Stotler and went up by a 60-58 margin on its next possession behind a layup from Keith Dabney with 2:07 remaining.

The Jackets kept AU off the scoreboard from then on and tied the game with 1:37 to play on a pair of free throws from Pettaway.

After a stop by DC on the defensive end, the Jackets came down the court with a chance to secure the road victory. The opportunity appeared to slip by after a missed jumper, but Anthony Jackson pulled in the offensive rebound with 35 seconds showing on the clock to set up the game-winning possession.

Defiance capitalized on its second-chance, running the clock down to four seconds before Johnson drove the paint for a layup and the 62-60 edge.

The lead held up as Vynsynt Vann’s jumper at the horn came up short and DC came away with the two-point win.

In what proved to be a hotly contested game, the difference proved to be DC’s strength in the post as the Yellow Jackets outscored Anderson by a 38-20 mark in the paint.

Defiance (4-1, 2-0 HCAC) will look to run its current win streak to four straight when it travels to Bluffton on Wednesday for a 7:30 pm tip. The Jackets next home game is set for Saturday at 3:00 pm when they host Hanover.