Men's Hoops Topples Franklin, 66-49

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance jumped out early and never looked back on Wednesday night, racing to a key bounce-back victory over Franklin. The Jackets shot 57 percent and dished out 18 assists as a team en route to the 66-49 win to move to 7-1 in the Weaner Community Center this season.

The Jackets performed well from the opening tip, scoring the game’s first six points before surging to a 17-4 lead with 12:36 to play in the opening half.

Franklin cut the gap to eight, but Defiance punched back by pushing the spread out to 15 points at 35-20 on back-to-back hoops from Anthony Jackson and rolled to the 39-27 advantage at the half.

DC dominated the Grizzlies in the paint in the opening 20 minutes of action, pounding Franklin for a 28-10 edge in the key.

Franklin went to work at the start of the second session, trimming the DC lead to seven points on a John Yochum jumper with 14:48 to play, but the Jackets responded by going back to the well and picking up a pair of buckets down low from Nick Sales and Jackson.

The lead would shrink to seven once again at 47-40, before layups from Sales and Anthony Pettaway gave Defiance a double-digit lead for good with 9:44 remaining on the clock.

Defiance would extend its lead to as many as 19 in the final minute before finishing off the Grizzlies for a 17-point margin of victory.

Along with the great ball movement and shot selection, Defiance also turned in one of its finest defensive efforts of the season. The Jackets held a high-powered Franklin attack 26 points below its season average on 35.8-percent shooting and also piled up a season-best 15 steals.

The Jackets pounded Franklin in the paint all night, utilizing a noticeable size advantage for a 48-16 edge in the paint and also held a 19-11 lead in points off miscues.

Pettaway cracked double figures for the 17th-straight game and led all players with 20 on nine-of-12 shooting while Sales responded to his first career start with his fifth double-double of the season. The freshman forward turned in 12 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, two assists and one block in 31 minutes of work.

Mike Floyd ran the precision attack, passing out seven assists to tie a career high and Johnson inched to within nine points of 800 for his career with nine points, four rebounds and three steals. Anthony Jackson added nine points and Matt Muratori turned in six.

The Jackets (11-4, 5-3 HCAC) will be back in action on Saturday when they host Anderson at 3:00 pm.