NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Manchester University men's basketball team defeated the visiting Defiance College Yellow Jackets in their regular season home finale by a final score of 91-61 on Tuesday, February 13.

The Spartans dominated the opening minutes of action on Tuesday, knocking down four three-pointers to take a 12-3 lead. Defiance's offense would start to build momentum, cutting Manchester's lead to 10 points with 4:01 left to play in the first half. The Spartans would head into the locker room with a 47-32 lead.

Manchester's hot shooting continued in the second half as the Spartans went on a 14-5 run to take a 24-point lead. The Spartans saw their biggest lead of night, 32, in the closing minutes of Tuesday night's game thanks to layup from Elijah Davis (Fort Wayne, Ind., Snider). The Black and Gold held Defiance to 29 points in the second half en route to a 91-61 victory.

As a team, Manchester shot 49.3% (33-67) and 41.7% (15-36) from three-point range, with 26 points coming off the bench for the Black and Gold. The Spartans also pulled down 42 rebounds and had 24 assists.

Bryant Smith (West Lafayette, Ind., Harrison) finished the night with a team high 18 points including, three straight three-pointers to start the game. The Spartans also had two players finish with double-doubles, including Zach Sawyer (Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Watterson) with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Logan Willoughby (Greenwood, Ind., Whiteland Community) with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sawyer was just two assists shy of a triple-double after dishing out a team-high eight assists. Coy Hampton (Park Forest, Ill., Crete Monee) also had 13 points and seven rebounds on Tuesday night.

Defiance shot 36.7% (22-60) and 33.3% (10-30) from three-point range. Heath Kash led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points and three rebounds, followed by Devin Goodwyn with 10 points and two steals.

With the win, Manchester men's basketball improved to 15-9 overall and 12-5 in conference play. Up next, the Spartans will face rival Anderson University in the final matchup of the regular season on Friday 16. The contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Anderson, Ind.