Men's Basketball Survives Trip to Defiance

DEFIANCE, OH - In a crucial conference battle Saturday afternoon, UNOH men's basketball survived their duel with Defiance, 66-64, defeating the Yellow Jackets twice in a season for the first time in program history.

The two teams went back and forth all day with no more than two possessions separating them for the full 40 minutes. Despite the tight play, the Racers trailed for less than three minutes of the first half but it included the minute that carried a 31-30 Defiance advantage into the break.

The same trends continued into the second half and over the first ten minutes produced four ties and five lead changes as the game sat tied 46-46 with 10:47 to play. The body blows turned into haymakers as the second half waned and the Yellow Jackets landed first with a 10-4 run that gave them their biggest lead of the day, 56-50, at the 4:10 mark.

UNOH answered right back with a big run of their own rattling off a 14-3 streak in less than three minutes to give them a five point lead with 1:38 remaining. The momentum swung one more time as Defiance pulled even once again, but Alex Benson came up big for the Racers tipping in his own missed shot with just two seconds on the clock to give UNOH the win.

Caleb Chapman led all scorers with 18 points while pulling down eight rebounds followed by Antonio King's 13 and Grant Pikkaart's twelve.

UNOH will try to make it two wins in-a-row with a trip to Cleary on Wednesday, February 11.