Men's Basketball Drops Overtime Heartbreaker to Defiance

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team held a lead late in the game, but were unable to see it out, as they fell in overtime to the visiting Defiance Yellow Jackets 75-69 Wednesday evening in Lansing.

Defiance would open the game on a 12-0 run.  Cleary would climb their way back into the game, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to 12-7.  Defiance would go on a run, outscoring Cleary 6-2 over the next minute of game play, and holding on to an 18-9 advantage.  Once again, Cleary would climb their way back into the game, starting with a Chaz Cobbs Jr. three pointer to start the run.  Amare Slaughter and Cobbs Jr. would make back to back layups, followed by a trio of free throws to give the Cougars a 19-18 lead with 7:24 to play in the half.  The teams would trade points, but a pair of free throws by Zane Kemp would extend Cleary's lead to 28-25 late in the half.  The lead grew to five points when Tim Kewley had a dunk.  After a pair of Defiance free throws, Zane Kemp would dunk through traffic to give the Cougars a five point lead once again.  Defiance would answer on the other end, but Zane Kemp would get free in transition to dunk it for the second time, giving Cleary a 34-29 lead.  Defiance would score on the half's final possession, sending Cleary into the half with a 34-31 lead.

Like the first half, Defiance would hold the Cougars scoreless for the restart, and took a 39-34 lead in the process.  The Yellow Jackets would hold a 42-40 lead four almost four minutes before a Chaz Cobbs Jr. layup tied the game at 42-42 with 10:31 to play.  TJ Fischhaber would provide a second half spark off the bench, making a contested layup, and after a defensive stop, drawing a foul to send him to the line for a pair of free throws, which he made to give the Cougars a 46-45 lead.  Chaz Cobbs Jr. would connect from behind the arc to extend the lead to four points one possession later.  After drawing a foul, Cobbs Jr. would make both of a pair of free throws to give Cleary a six point cushion with 6:37 to go.  Defiance would cut that lead to one point before Cleary answered, going on a 7-0 run to hold a 62-54 lead with 2:16 left in the game.  Defiance would make back to back threes, cutting the Cleary lead to 62-60 with just over a minute left in the action.  The Cougars would give up the tying basket with 0:29 to go, and were able to hold the ball for the final shot.  The ball would find Bennie Crenshaw Jr., who was able to get a clean shot off, but his shot would rattle in-and-out, and the score would remain tied 62-62 to force overtime.

Defiance would strike first in the extra period, but Zane Kemp would answer on the Cougars' offensive end.  An offensive rebound by the Yellow Jackets would give them a 68-66 lead.  Defiance would get a stop, and scored on the other end to extend their lead to 70-66.  Cleary would miss on their next trip down the floor, and Defiance stayed hot, scoring again to build a 72-66 lead.  Nick Ellis would hit a three to make it a one possession game wth 0:23 left in the action.  Cleary would be forced to foul, where Defiance made enough of their shots down the stretch to hand Cleary a 75-69 defeat.

Chaz Cobbs Jr. had a game high 20 points on 7/9 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  Nick Ellis would add 9 points, while Zane Kemp had 8 points for the Cougars.  10 different Cougars found their way into the scorebook in the game.

The loss drops Cleary's record to 6-10 overall, 5-6 in the WHAC.  Cleary will look to rebound on Saturday when they hit the road to take on the Madonna Crusaders for a WHAC contest.  The game is set to begin at 3:00 PM.