DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Manchester men's basketball team defeated the Defiance College Yellow Jackets by a final score of 87-67 to begin the new year on Wednesday, December 3. 

Defiance jumped out to a seven-point lead to start the first half of Wednesday night's game. The Spartans would chip away at the Yellow Jacket's lead to tie the game up at 17 apiece with 11:27 on the clock. After a back-and-forth battle, Manchester would retake the lead and extend it to 14 points to close out the first half on top 42-28.

The Yellow Jackets would cut the Spartans lead to nine after the first four and half minutes of action in the second half. Manchester would hold off Defiance to extend their lead to 20 with 1:47 on the clock. The Spartans would take Wednesday's game by a final score of 87-67 to improve to 7-5 overall and 4-1 in HCAC play. 

As a team, the Spartans shot 47.7% (31-65) and pulled down 43 rebounds with 12 steals. Defiance shot 46.3% from the floor and was held to 26 rebounds as a team. 

Leading the way for the Spartans was senior guard Zach Sawyer (Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Watterson) with a season-high 31 points, shooting 11-17 from the floor. Sawyer also had a team-high eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals on Wednesday night. Logan Willoughby (Greenwood, Ind., Whiteland Community) added 16 points and two blocks, while Bryant Smith (West Lafayette, Ind., Harrison) chipped in 15 points and two blocks for the Black and Gold. Mitch Mendenhall (New Haven, Ind., Woodlan) finished with five points, five rebounds, and three steals. 

Defiance was led by Landen Swanner with 20 points followed by Jeffery Smith with nine points and Devin Goodwyn with eight points. The Yellow Jackets are now 1-10 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

Up next, the Black and Gold will host Hanover College for an HCAC men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday, December 6. Manchester men's basketball will tipoff against the Panthers at 2:00 p.m. in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.