Jackets Have No Answer for Heidelberg, Fall 86-74

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance had four players score in double figures, but Heidelberg countered by hitting 58 percent of its shots from the floor to hand the Jackets the 86-74 defeat on Tuesday night inside the Weaner Community Center.

A pair of layups from Anthony Pettaway sandwiched a Nick Sales hoop in the opening moments as Defiance took leads of 2-0, 4-3 and 6-5, but Heidelberg scored 12 of the game’s next 14 points and never looked back.

The Student Princes lead swelled to 18 at the half, as Defiance faced a 47-29 deficit entering intermission. Along with connecting on over 60 percent of its field goal attempts, Heidelberg built its cushion with a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes of action. The ‘Berg also outscored DC 32-18 in the paint and 17-5 in points off the bench.

Any hopes of a second-half comeback similar to one that Defiance put together in a road victory over Heidelberg one year ago were quickly vanquished as three-straight treys to open the second half pushed the lead to 56-31.

The lead would grow to a 30-point spread at 76-46 with 8:56 left to play before Defiance frantically began cutting into the deficit.

The Yellow Jackets used a barrage of three pointers to close the gap, hitting five shots from long distance over the final eight-plus minutes. The hot shooting allowed DC to outscore Heidelberg 28-10 during that stretch and pull to within 12 at the final buzzer.

Sales scored a game high with 16 points and was joined in double figures by Pettaway, Anthony Jackson and C.J. Johnson. Nathan Schmidt provided a spark off the bench in the second half, ending with nine points, three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Heidelberg (2-0) was led by a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double from Andrew Lemmon, while Chad Szalay added 14 points, four dimes and a trio of steals.

Defiance (1-2) will try to get back in the win column this Sunday when it plays at Kalamazoo at 3:00 pm.