| About OWU | | | Academics | | | Admission | | | Alumni | | | Athletics | | | Faculty/Staff | | | Students |
Defiance 80, Ohio Wesleyan 65
Dec. 18, 2008
![[ Kyle Miller ]](../images/kmiller.jpg)
Senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 65-65, but Defiance finished the game with a 15-0 run to escape with a non-conference win over Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday at Branch Rickey Arena.
The Yellow Jackets led, 40-39, at halftime and held on to a slim lead until senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) sank a pair of free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan a 55-54 lead with 13:01 left in regulation time.
Ohio Wesleyan then went on a scoring drought of more than 4 minutes, but the Bishop defense kept the game close by allowing Defiance only a jumper by Kevin Tietje and a jumper from Anthony Brown for a 58-55 Yellow Jacket lead with 8:37 left.
Holliday promptly knocked down a 3-pointer on Ohio Wesleyan's next possession, tying the game at 58-58, and sank a free throw on the Bishops' next possession for a 59-58 Ohio Wesleyan lead with 7:56 to play.
Defiance reclaimed the lead with lay-ins by Anthony Pettaway and Mike Floyd, but Miller wiped out that deficit with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62-62 with 4:17 left, and after Brown hit a 3-pointer, Miller buried another trifecta to even the score at 65-65 with 3:58 to go.
Teitje answered with a 3-pointer to put the Yellow Jackets ahead, 68-65, and after an offensive foul wiped out a putback bucket by junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia), Defiance took advantage of that shift in momentum by getting a pair of Tietje lay-ins and a Brown 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 75-65 with 1:39 to go and effectively sealing the outcome.
Defiance had threatened to break the game open early, snapping a 10-10 tie with a Heath Armstrong 3-pointer, a Tietje jumper and an Eric Stolly free throw, but Ohio Wesleyan answered with a 3-pointer by junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) and a pair of free throws by freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls) to close within 16-15, and neither team led by more than 4 points during the remainder of the first half, with Ohio Wesleyan cutting the margin to a single point on a 3-pointer by sophomore wing Dillon McBride (Medina) in the closing seconds of the half.
Holliday led the Bishops with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Miller finished with 12 points and led the Bishops with 5 assists.
Tietje led Defiance with 18 points, while Pettaway followed with 16 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds -- all on the defensive end -- and led the Yellow Jackets with 6 assists. Brown finished with 15 points.