Johnson Sizzles as Jackets Dump Transylvania

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Defiance traveled to Transylvania on Saturday in a clash of the only remaining unbeaten teams in HCAC play and made a resounding statement, thrashing the Pioneers by a 98-65 count. The win marks the first DC victory at Transylvania since earning a 91-77 victory back on Jan. 5, 2002.

Not only was the victory Defiance’s first in six years at Transy, but it ended an 11-game skid against the Pioneers on the hardwood, which included season-ending losses in each of the last two HCAC Tournaments.

The host Pioneers had the touch from long range in the early going and Matthew Parton’s trey marked their third trifecta and boosted Transy to a 12-11 lead with 13:18 to go. That would be DC’s last deficit however, as the Jackets got a layup from Nick Sales and would follow with a string of hoops from Deon Thompson, Anthony Pettaway, C.J. Johnson, and Mike Floyd. The wide-spread attack resulted in a 10-0 flurry and a 21-12 advantage.

Johnson would then take over the game over the final six and a half minutes of the opening stanza. The senior’s layup gave DC its first double-digit lead of the game at 26-15 and he proceeded to score 16 of the final 21 points of the half for Defiance for a 47-23 lead at the break.

Johnson’s barrage capped a blistering attack in the opening 20 minutes, as he sank five of his final six shots. For the half, Johnson connected on eight-of-12 attempts from the field and racked up 25 points in 13 minutes of action to put two more points on the board than the entire Pioneer roster.

The Defiance lead would remain over 20 points for the rest of the game as Transylvania failed to mount a rally in the second half. The Jackets never let their advantage slip below 22 points after the break and several late free throws pushed the final margin to a game high 33 points at 98-65.

DC turned in another stout defensive effort, holding its opponent below the 70-point barrier for the seventh-straight outing. The Jackets also forced 18 Pioneer miscues and turned that into a 19-6 edge in points off turnovers.

Defiance also fueled its success by getting to the line 47 times and hitting 39 of those attempts for an 83-percent clip. That success was highlighted by Johnson, Sales and Nathan Schmidt combining to go 27-27 from the charity stripe.

Johnson was the story once again for DC, ending the game with 33 points to lead all scorers. The outburst was the second 30-point performance of the year for Johnson and moved him to 24th on DC’s all-time scoring list. Johnson now has 1,188 career points and needs 12 more to become the 22nd player in DC history to reach the 1,200-point plateau for his career.

Sales joined Johnson in double figures, netting 15 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Pettaway and Floyd added nine points each and Schmidt chipped in eight points off the bench.

Defiance has now won seven of its last eight contests to push its overall record to 10-4 and is now 5-0 in the HCAC. The Jackets have outscored the opposition by an average of 28.8 points a game over their last four.

DC will look to stay hot when it hosts Franklin (8-6, 2-3 HCAC) on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.