Jackets Bounce Franklin, March into HCAC Finals

FRANKLIN, Ind. – Defiance used an 11-0 rally in the opening moments of the second half to flip a 10-point deficit into a one-point edge and then delivered the knockout blow with a 13-2 spurt later in the period as the Jackets rallied past the top-seeded Franklin squad, 80-73, on Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets entered a near-capacity house at Franklin’s Spurlock Center and showed no fear as DC traded punches with the Grizzlies, battling neck and neck through the majority of the opening half.

Neither team distanced themselves until Franklin ran off a string of nine-straight points to break open a 26-26 tie and stake the Grizzlies to the 35-26 lead with under a minute to play.

Eric Stolly momentarily ended the FC rally with a three from the wing, but Franklin’s Marty Young sent the host squad to the break with the 37-29 lead and all the momentum with a runner with six ticks left in the first half.

C.J. Johnson responded to coming off the bench for the first time in his career at Defiance by busting out of his shooting slump with 12 first-half points and Anthony Pettaway tacked on nine, including the first six tallies of the game for the Jackets.

After a Luke Tudor bucket pushed FC’s lead to its widest gap of the game at 10 points on the opening possession of the second half, the Jackets fired back with an 11-0 spurt, storming to the 40-39 lead with 15:30 left in the game. The lead was the first for DC since holding a 23-21 edge deep into the first period.

Defiance then traded hoops with Franklin for the next several minutes, holding a 50-48 lead before mounting yet another inspired charge to distance themselves from the Grizzlies. A long trey from Anthony Jackson capped a 13-2 surge from DC as the Yellow Jackets widened the gap to 63-50 with six minutes showing on the clock.

The host squad would not go away quietly and began using a high pressure defense and a wide array of shots to chip away at the deficit, eventually managing to claw within seven on a pair of Dustin Marshall free throws.

The gap narrowed further to 72-67 with just over one minute to play, and dipped to four points on two occasions in the final minute, but the Jackets were able to keep Franklin at bay by sinking their attempts from the charity stripe and eventually finished off the top-seeded Grizzlies by an 80-73 count to march into the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday night at 7:30 pm.

Johnson led DC with a game-high 23 points, while Pettaway and Jackson turned in 18 and 16 each. The 23 points for Johnson gives the junior guard 915 point for his career and moves him another step closer towards becoming the 41st member of DC’s 1,000-point club.

The Jackets shot the ball well all night, finishing with a 55-percent clip from the floor and outscored Franklin by a 51-36 margin in the final 20 minutes behind 13-of-22 shooting and 24 made free throws.

Defiance (17-8) has now matched its best single-season win total since the 2002-2003 season and stands one win shy of its first HCAC Championship since 2001.

The Jackets will be gunning for that title on Saturday when they take on the second-seeded Transylvania squad. The Pioneers advanced to the finals in the first game on Friday, beating Bluffton, 78-66.

Saturday’s HCAC Championship game will be aired live via a webcast provided by Penn Atlantic and the HCAC. Fans can watch the game by registering for free at pennatlantic.com and searching for the Defiance versus Transy contest.