Pettaway's Career Game Pushes Jackets Past Hanover

HANOVER, Ind. – Anthony Pettaway rebounded from his lowest scoring output of the season on Wednesday by netting a career-high 27 points on Saturday, powering Defiance to a crucial, 83-80, road win at Hanover.

The Yellow Jackets led for much of the 40 minutes of action with Hanover’s largest lead coming on a three-point play from Eric Parker to start the game.

The Panther lead was quickly erased by back-to-back daggers from long distance out of the hands of C.J. Johnson and Anthony Jackson for a 6-3 DC advantage with 18:25 to play in the opening half.

Defiance trailed only once from that point on, as another Parker bucket reclaimed a 10-9 lead for Hanover before a hoop and a free throw from Pettaway put the Jackets on top to stay.

An 11-0 DC spurt pushed the Yellow Jacket lead out to 40-24 with 4:42 remaining in the opening half, and a Matt Muratori layup pushed the spread to 19 points at 47-28 before Hanover closed the gap to 13 over the final two-plus minutes of action before intermission.

The Jackets saw their lead dip as low as nine points in the first two minutes of the second half before steadily pushing the spread out to a game-high 20 points at 71-51 with 9:19 to play.

The host Panther squad spent the remainder of the game furiously chipping into the Defiance lead, but could only get as close as the final spread of three points on their final possession, as DC held on for the 83-80 victory.

DC shot well all game long, sinking 55 percent of its shots and assisting 20-of-28 made field goals for a season high.

The Jackets also held the Heartland Conference’s leading three-point shooting team to only four made three-point shots in 16 attempts.

Pettaway led the attack with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while also contributing eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Jackson joined Pettaway in double figures with 13 points and Heath Armstrong chipped in nine. Nick Sales added seven points, five rebounds and a career-best seven assists.

Defiance (13-5, 7-4) will return home to host Bluffton (14-5, 6-4) on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.