Men’s basketball team downed by Defiance, 85-73

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Olivet College men's basketball team dropped an 85-73 decision to Defiance College this evening inside the Karl H. Weaner Center.

• Final Score: Defiance 85, Olivet 73
• Location: Karl H. Weaner Center; Defiance, Ohio
• Records: Olivet 2-5 overall, Defiance 3-5 overall

• The Yellow Jackets raced out to an 11-2 lead in the first two minutes and 31 seconds. Olivet battled back with a 12-1 run to take its first lead of the game. Defiance came back with seven straight points to make the score 20-14 at the 12:42 mark. The Yellow Jackets seized another six-point cushion, 22-16, with 11:02 left. A 5-0 Comet run trimmed their deficit down to a single point, 22-21. Olivet did not get any closer for the rest of the half, as Defiance extended its lead to as many 13 points on two occasions before settling for a 46-34 lead at the break.
• Early in the second half, the Comets got their deficit down to single digits at eight points. Following the final time at 60-52, the Yellow Jackets scored 11 consecutive points to go up 19. Olivet fought back to make it an 11-point game with 9:04 remaining but could not get any nearer.

• Freshman Haidyn Garrison paced Olivet with 14 points.
• Sophomore Lorris Upshaw added 13 points.
• Senior Tevin Ali contributed 12 points.
• Ali and junior Ryan Bart each grabbed seven rebounds.
• Senior Noah Wiswary dished out seven assists.

• The tandem of Landen Swanner and Marell Jordan combined for 65 of the 85 Defiance points.
• Swanner had 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
• Jordan tallied 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting.
• Te Jones finished with 11 points.
• Evan Conrad pulled down seven rebounds.

• After playing its first seven games on the road, Olivet has its home-opener next Wednesday night against DePauw (Ind.) University. Tip-off at the Cutler Event Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.