Jackets Battle with the Pioneers

(Defiance, OH) The Defiance College Yellow Jackets returned home in hopes of sparking a new start to their season this past Saturday against the Transylvania Pioneers. This was senior night for our Men’s Basketball team, and they honored Jonathon “Rags” Ragland.

DC came into the game 3-19 overall, and 2-13 in conference, while Transy came in 10-5 in the HCAC. The game started off neck and neck, but Defiance was able to put something together and take the lead by the middle of the first half. DC led as much as 32-25, but Transy was able to answer back, and cut the deficit to 44-43 by the half.

DC came out in the second half with the same intensity, but could not match Transy, who was able to get ahead in the 2nd half, and stay ahead as well. The game finished at 83-77. The Jackets fought hard, but could not pull it off against the Pioneers.

The Jackets were led by Kiewuan Graham, who had an impressive 27 points, followed by Desmoines Whitney with 19, and Ben Singer added 14 of his own. Leading the team in rebounds was Jordan Maschino with 8, while Whitney added 5 of his own. Randall Aikans Jr. had 6 assists.

The Jackets shot 45.3% from the field compared to Transy’s 46%. They had 31 rebounds, and 27 points off the bench. They also had 17 assists as a team. After the game, we caught up with freshman Cohen Nies, who had this to say, “We played hard in the first half and came out with a lot of energy, but they had more energy in the second half. As a young team we’re getting better and we have to learn how to bring the energy into both halves and play our best basketball the whole game.”

The Jackets play Earlham at 7:30 PM on Valentines Day! Make sure you bring your date to a very high intensity and fun basketball game! Go Jackets!

Written by Zac Bires