Yellow Jackets close P&G Tournament with win 71-68 over Miami-Hamilton

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The first win of the season for the Defiance Yellow Jackets required holding off the Harriers from Miami-Hamilton during a second-half surge but several clutch shots fell to secure the 71-68 win to cap off the action at the 48th annual Purple and Gold Tournament.

The Yellow Jackets (1-1) led for over 37 minutes and had a margin as wide as 13 points with eight minutes left in the game, but a 10-0 run by the Harriers (2-3) made the home crowd stick around until the finish.

Leading 54-41, Miami-Hamilton guard Ryan Marchal heated up and hit a pair of field goals to get the Harrier comeback started before they started to chip away at the free throw line. Miami-Hamilton hit eight free throws during a run of 13-2 that led to the Harriers taking a short-lived, one-point lead on a Marchal layup with 4:26 remaining. Defiance's Clay McCorkle answered with a jumper from the right side short-corner. McCorkle extended the lead two possessions later when the Jackets turned a turnover into a triple to go up by five. 

The two teams went back-and-forth on their next two possessions each that saw Defiance respond to a two-point bucket with a lay-in by Cole Wojciechowski. After a triple by Marchal on the other end, Sherod Brooks hustled after his missed trey to earn and offensive board and fed Landen Swanner for a 3-pointer to regain the five-point advantage with 42 seconds left. 

Defiance picked up a pair of free throws by McCorkle and Wojciechowski over the final 28 seconds to hold the Harriers at bay despite a pair of 3-point buckets by Michael Keehan prior to Miami-Hamilton running out of time.

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets were fueled by long-range shooting once again with six makes outside the arc. Will Gehlhausen sank two of those makes to match Swanner during the first 20 minutes of action. Defiance shot a mirrored 12-for-28 in each the first and second half while picking up 11 makes at the charity after in the second half despite no attempts in the first half.

All-tournament selections were awarded to two players from all four teams. Defiance's honorees were Swanner (33 points, seven 3-pointers) and Trevino (23 points, nine assists). Miami-Hamilton's 5-foot-8 guard Ryan Marchal led the tournament in scoring with 67 points, 40 of which he scored on Friday night in the Harriers' win over Bethany. Cory Davis earned the other nod for the Harriers a double-double against the Yellow Jackets on Saturday and added up 21 points and 17 rebounds for the weekend. From Beloit, who went 2-0 for the tournament, Azeez Ganiyu (28 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Semaj Roy (30 points, 16 rebounds) took home hardware for the Buccaneers. Honors for Bethany went to Chance Wells (26 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) and Cole Dailey (39 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists).

The next contest for the DC men's basketball team is on Wednesday at Olivet University. Tipoff against the Comets is scheduled for 7 p.m.

-JACKETS-