Pettaway Leads Jackets Past No. 13 UW-Oshkosh

ORLANDO, Fla. – Anthony Pettaway turned in his third-straight double-double in his best outing of the season, as Defiance took a 53-46 victory over No. 13 UW-Oshkosh on Tuesday night in Orlando, Fla. The win was the fourth victory in a row for the surging Yellow Jackets.

Pettaway was a force in the paint all night, pacing Defiance with 11 points and five boards in the opening 20 minutes and ending the night leading all players with 18 points and 15 rebounds. DC’s junior center set new season highs with both marks and the 15 rebounds also set a new career best.

Pettaway had plenty of help from the team’s leading scorer, as C.J. Johnson joined him in double figures with 12 points. Johnson has now reached double figures in scoring in all nine games this season and with four more steals, is averaging three thefts a game over his last six. The senior guard also reached the 1,100-point plateau for his career with the 12-point showing and becomes the 33rd player in school history to accomplish the feat.

Heath Armstrong and Nick Sales each played well, as Armstrong sank three-of-five attempts for the floor for seven points in 10 minutes and Sales collected five points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

The Yellow Jackets struggled to find their shooting touch from all areas of the court, shooting just 43.1 percent from the floor, and 44.4 percent from the charity stripe. DC also managed to make just one-of-11 chances from long range, but overcame the cool shooting by beating Oshkosh, 37-33, on the glass and committing only 11 turnovers in the game.

Defiance also used a stifling defensive performance to slow the Titan offense. DC held an opponent to under 40-percent shooting for only the second time this season and yielded its lowest opponent point total of the year.

While Defiance failed to lead from start to finish like it had in its previous three outings, the Jackets were in control throughout. DC held at least a portion of the lead for all but two minutes and eight seconds of the game, never trailed by more than two points and only faced a UW-Oshkosh lead for one possession of the second half.

After trailing 2-0 and 6-4, three-straight points from Pettaway put the Jackets in front at 7-6. They would add to that cushion for the remainder of the stanza and take their largest lead of the night on a trifecta from Armstrong. The trey put DC up 33-23 with 45 seconds left in the opening period.

The lead remained at a comfortable margin in the opening minutes of the second half, as a Johnson hoop gave DC the 39-30 lead with 13:58 left on the clock. Oshkosh then made its only extended run of the game, rattling off 10 unanswered points to take a 40-39 edge with 11:29 to play.

The Jackets countered by not allowing another Titan field goal over the next 7:37 of action and by turning to their big man. Pettaway responded with three of DC’s four hoops in that span to spur an 8-0 rally which reclaimed a 47-40 lead for Defiance.

UW (7-2) managed to trim the gap to 48-46 with 2:44 remaining, but DC posted a shutout the rest of the way and iced the game from the free throw line to take the 53-46 victory.

Defiance (6-3) will have little time to savor its fourth-straight win, as it will take on Roanoke on Wednesday at 5:00 pm. The Maroons brought a 4-1 record to the RDV Sportsplex Tournament and were receiving votes in the most recent D3hoop.com poll.