Pettaway's Eighth Double-Double Leads DC Past Marygrove

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Anthony Pettaway continued his strong play of late, picking up his second double-double in as many games and backing up his HCAC Athlete of the Month selection earlier this week with a 21-point, 12-rebound performance as Defiance cruised past Marygrove, 65-50, on Wednesday night.

Pettaway, who is averaging 22.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game over DC’s last four, got off to a quick start on Wednesday, scoring 13 of the Yellow Jackets’ first 27 points. The quick start from the sophomore center, combined with nine early points from C.J. Johnson to enable DC to flip a 16-9 deficit into a 27-19 lead.

The Mustangs trimmed the gap to four points with a pair of Stefan Kalabat free throws, but Heath Armstrong closed the scoring in the opening half with a baseline three to send the Jackets to the half with a 30-23 advantage.

Defiance quickly put the game away in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 6-0 spurt to push the spread to 13 and never looked back. The lead never dipped below 10 points from then on, eventually swelling to as many as 20 at 65-45 before Marygrove ended the game with five-straight to trim DC’s final margin of victory to 15.

Pettaway led all players with his 21 points and added a team-high 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Johnson scored 13 points to move to within 22 of the 900-point plateau for his career and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Anthony Jackson knocked in a three for the seventh-straight game and scored nine points while adding four rebounds and Mike Floyd dished out six assists to reach 100 for the season and also pulled down six rebounds.

Freshmen reserves Brent Papenfuss and Eric Stolly also turned in solid performances as Papenfuss notched eight points and Stolly posted career highs with six rebounds and two assists.

The win moves Defiance to 15-6 this season and ups the Jackets to 7-1 in non-conference games.

The Jackets will get back into HCAC play with road games on Saturday and Wednesday at Rose-Hulman and Franklin before hosting Transylvania in their regular season final on Feb. 17 at 3:00 pm.