Jackets Lead from Wire to Wire in Win at Franklin

FRANKLIN, Ind. – Defiance matched its season-high win streak with a 68-61 win at Franklin on Wednesday night. The victory was the fourth straight for the Yellow Jackets, who have gone 16-3 since December 1, including four separate four-game win streaks during that span.

DC never trailed in the game and faced its only tie of the night when Franklin’s Jared Catron knotted the score at 2-2 at the 18:42 mark. Anthony Pettaway countered with back-to-back buckets in the paint and Defiance never looked back.

The lead swelled to 26-16 on a jumper from C.J. Johnson, before the Grizzlies narrowed the gap with a 16-8 rally to close the half. The Franklin surge sent Defiance to the break with a 34-32 advantage.

Anthony Jackson started the second stanza with a trey and a Nick Sales layup would eventually push the spread to 42-36 with 16:04 showing on the clock. FC fought back with six-straight points in the paint to make it a one-point game, but DC punched back with three-straight layups for the 50-43 lead with 10:11 to play.

Defiance kept the pressure on, matching what had been its largest lead of the game at 58-48 with 4:45 to play, before a trifecta from C.J. Johnson lifted DC to a 13-point lead with just over four minutes in the game. The DC lead would never get below six points from then on and the Jackets secured the 68-61 road victory.

The Jackets dominated play down low, outscoring Franklin by a 46-26 margin in the paint. DC also held a 35-20 edge in the battle of the boards.

Pettaway turned in his sixth-straight game with over 20 points and 10 boards by leading Defiance with 23 points and 10 rebounds. The junior center has now climbed to 972 points for his career and needs 28 more to become the 42nd member of DC’s 1,000-point club.

Johnson, who joined the 1,000-point club earlier this season, netted 18 points to climb two spots on DC’s all-time scoring list. The senior guard passed Joe Herman (1989-93) and Bill Pace (1951-56) and is five back of cracking the top 15 with 1,340 points.

Sales contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks off the bench, while Jackson and Nate Helton combined for 11 points and seven boards.

Defiance (18-6, 13-2 HCAC) will close out its regular season on Saturday when it hosts Rose-Hulman (11-13, 7-8 HCAC). DC will honor Johnson and Bryan Post prior to the start of the game as part of its Senior Day activities.