DC's Six-Game Streak Comes to End with Loss at MSJ

CINCINNATI – Mount St. Joseph shot 62 percent for the game and DC had no answer as the Lions handed Defiance its first loss in seven games with an 80-62 defeat. The road loss drops the Jackets to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the HCAC.

Defiance hung close early and held leads of five points on two occasions with the last coming on an Anthony Jackson hoop with 4:58 showing on the clock in the opening half.

MSJ then closed the half on an 11-2 spurt to head to intermission with a 37-33 lead after sinking 16-of-26 attempts from the floor.

The Lions’ lead ballooned to 11 in the opening minutes of the second half before Defiance drained four consecutive shots from beyond the arc.

Consecutive threes from Bryan Post and C.J. Johnson cut the deficit to 48-43 before a pair of Mike Floyd trey’s trimmed the gap to three points at 52-49 with 10:09 to play.

A Johnson layup and another Floyd long-range jumper sandwiched a MSJ three to make it a two-point game at 58-56, but the Lions withstood the Yellow Jacket flurry and scored 13 of the game’s next 16 points to reclaim a double-digit lead at 71-59 with 3:09 to play.

The Lions pulled away over the game’s final three minutes, extending the lead to a game-high 20 points before closing out the 80-62 win over DC.

Anthony Pettaway, Johnson and Floyd all cracked double figures in scoring, combining for 36 of DC’s 62 points and Post added nine of his own.

Michael Romes led five Mount St. Joseph players in double figures with 17 points on eight-of-11 shooting to lead a blistering Lion attack, which saw MSJ hit 32-of-52 shots for the game.

Defiance (10-3, 4-2 HCAC) will face another stiff test on the road next Saturday when it takes on Transylvania at 3:00 pm.