RICHMOND, Indiana – Earlham College men's basketball erased most of a 22-point deficit in the second half, but fell to Defiance College, 75-74, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference clash on Wednesday at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

THE BASICS

Final Score:  Defiance 75, Earlham 74
Location: Defiance, Ohio – Weaner Center
Records: Earlham 7-14, 3-11 HCAC / Defiance 11-11, 6-9 HCAC

HOW IT HAPPENED

Earlham trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, following a Jack Kolar 3-pointer that left Defiance holding an 18-6 lead with 12:11 left in the frame.

The Quakers cut the lead to as few as four, 29-25, at the 3:14 mark on a pair of Chainey Zolman foul shots, but the Yellow Jackets outscored Earlham, 10-4, the rest of the way in the half. The teams went into the halftime intermission with Defiance holding a 39-29 lead.

Defiance controlled play through much of the early part of the second half, and an 11-0 run by the Yellow Jackets lasting nearly four minutes resulted in Earlham trailing, 61-39, at the 12:33 mark. The Defiance lead held at 22 points, 66-44, after a Kolar trey with 9:48 showing on the game clock.

At that point, Earlham began its rally starting with a Blake Bonin layup and a three from Zolman. The Quakers outscored the Yellow Jackets, 20-1, over a nearly eight-minute span, cutting the Defiance lead to three points, 67-64 with 1:58 to play. Three-pointers by the Jackets' Kolar and Tyler Andrew helped extend the Defiance back to seven as the clock passed under a minute, and Earlham was unable to recover despite a conventional 3-point-play from Blake Bonin and a trey at the buzzer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Jamel Barnes Jr. led Earlham with 23 points and nine rebounds and was one of three Quakers in double digits. Zolman finished with 22 points while Bonin chipped in with 17 points.

The Quakers were 17-for-17 at the free-throw line, marking the first time Earlham had been perfect at the charity stripe on 10-or-more attempts since February 6, 2016, against Anderson (24-for-24). Earlham was 27-of-61 (.443) from the floor but was held to just 3-of-13 (.231) from three-point range – matching the Quakers' lowest production from long range this season.

Four Defiance players scored in double figures, led by Chase Glock with 19 points off the bench. Marell Jordan paced the starters with 17 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Earlham men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 15, when it hosts Mount St. Joseph in an HCAC contest. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 p.m. Seniors Kenneth Stalling Jr., Chainey Zolman, Cristian Camarillo, Tarig Eldosougi, Thomas Sanborn, Blake Bonin, and John Sakaleros will be recognized in pre-game ceremonies.