Pioneers Slip Past Defiance in HCAC Championship

FRANKLIN, Ind. – One week after nearly having its season ended with an agonizing loss to Transylvania on the final day of the regular season, Defiance got its rematch with the Pioneers with the HCAC Championship on the line. This time the Jackets gave the defending HCAC Conference Champions all they could handle before finally succumbing to the versatile offensive arsenal of the Pioneers, falling 77-64.

Turnovers haunted Defiance all game long as 21 DC miscues led to 28 points for Transy. The Jackets overcame the 10 first-half turnovers by shooting 64 percent from the court and took a 33-32 lead to the break, but could not keep up the pace in the final 20 minutes.

The DC lead grew to three on two separate occasions for the Purple and Gold in the opening moments of the second half. Anthony Pettaway started the half with a hoop in the paint to push DC’s lead to 35-32 and Bryan Post sank a deep three to claim the 38-35 edge for Defiance.

Four-straight DC turnovers then opened the door for Transy and the Pioneers took full advantage by rattling off seven unanswered to take a 42-38 lead with 15:03 left to play.

Mike Floyd dialed up a long distance trey to stem the tide and then found Pettaway for an easy bucket on DC’s next time down the court for the 43-42 Yellow Jacket lead.

That would prove to be the final advantage of the game for Defiance however, as Transylvania rode Nick Feagan for five-straight points to open up a 59-51 lead.

The gap widened to 10 at the five-minute mark on a Tim Tierney layup, and the Pioneers never looked back while holding off Defiance for the 77-64 victory.

Floyd led the charge for Defiance, netting 16 points on six-of-10 shooting and three triples in four attempts. Pettaway tacked on 15 and Nick Sales racked up eight points and eight rebounds.

Players from Defiance and Transylvania made up the entire HCAC All-Tournament Team as Pettaway, Floyd and C.J. Johnson were named to the squad for DC along with Transy’s Gary Mouser, Joey Searle and the HCAC Tournament M.V.P. Nick Feagan.

Defiance ends its impressive 2006-2007 campaign with a 17-9 record and is poised to make a yet another run at the HCAC crown next season as the Jackets are set to return every member of its current roster.