Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - In the conclusion of what has been the most competitive conference season in years, Defiance capped off its season winning the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship by defeating host Manchester College 104-97.
Manchester and Defiance earned a share of te regular season conference championship along with Hanover College. Defiance receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament set to begin March 1.
Manchester started the game with a 10-2 advantage and increased its lead to 23-11 with 13:05 left in the first half. Defiance proceeded to go on a 22-2 run over the next six minutes to pull ahead 33-25. Manchester was able to regroup as a team and went into halftime down by four, 46-42.
In the second half of action, Manchester and Defiance battled back and forth throughout the first 16 minutes of the second half, creating a 82-all tie. Over the next three minutes of play, Defiance went on a 14-0 run to push the score to 96-82. Defiance's Gavin Sever hit four consecutive free throws to help the Yellow Jackets maintain their lead. With just under a minute left to play, the Spartans got to within six, but Manchester could not get any closer.
For Defiance, tournament MVP Eric Viney led all scorers with 29 points and seven rebounds. Teammate Sever chipped in 24 points and was 14-18 from the line. Frank Kill was 6 of 8 from the floor and had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Marcus Alexander scored 10.
Manchester was led by Jeremy Neely's 20-point, six-assist performance. Yul Lee had 18 points, while Carson Harris had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. Mark Patterson had 13 points and six rebounds.
DEFIANCE 104, MANCHESTER 97
Defiance 46 58 - 104
Manchester 42 55 - 97
Defiance -ÊJason Smoenski 1-2 0-0 3, Gavin Sever 4-10 14-18 24, Marcus Alexander 3-9 3-6 10, Eric Viney 7-16 14-17 29, Frank Kill 6-8 5-5 17, Jason Hervey 2-5 2-2 8, Mike Kurdziel 2-2 0-2 5, Juan Vela 0-2 0-0 0, Brian Brenner 2-6 3-4 7, Shaun Koren 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-61 42-56 104.
Manchester -ÊYul Lee 8-13 2-2 18, Jeremy Neely 7-15 4-5 20, Carson Harris 5-10 6-8 17, Mark Patterson 6-13 0-0 13, Travis Haynes 2-3 0-0 4, Caleb Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Rez Reimer 3-11, 0-0 9, Nick Chaney 2-6 2-4 8, Doc Nash 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Carver 2-2 0-0 4, Chris Enyeart 2-3 0-0 4, Todd Nash 0-1 0-0 0. Totals - 37-79 14-19 97.
Three-point goals -ÊDefiance 8-19 (Smoenski 1-2, Sever 2-3, Alexander 1-3, Viney 1-4, Hervey 2-5, Kurdziel 1-1, Vela 0-1), Manchester 9-27 (Neely 2-8, Harris 1-2, Patterson 1-3, Reimer 3-8, Chaney 2-5, Nash 0-1). Rebounds -ÊDefiance 40, Manchester 38. Assists -ÊDefiance 9, Manchester 17. Steals -ÊDefiance 8, Manchester 5. Fouls -ÊDefiance 21, Manchester 38. Fouled out -ÊKill, Harris, Patterson, Chaney. Turnovers -ÊDefiance 10, Manchester 11.
TRACK AND FIELD
Grace Places Third At NCCAA Championships
Saturday at Sienna Heights
The Grace College men's track and field team placed third at the 2001 National Christian College Athletic Association National Indoor Tack and Field Championships. The times were slower due to the surface of the track and the school not alllowing athletes to wear spikes.
Freshman Daniel Njenga was crowned national champion in two events. He won the 800 and mile championships. In the 800, Njenga used a strong kick in the final 100 meters to edge out the second place runner by 0.3 seconds. Njenga's time was 2:00.81. In the mile, he outdistanced Taylor's Kip Rop (currently ranked second in the NAIA national rankons in the 3000) by nearly two seconds. Njenga began his kick with 200 meters remaining and never looked back to finish in 4:22.69.
The men's 3,200 relay team of Art Woodruff, Jerid Stoffel, Njenga and Paul Paschal placed second in the championships.
Brian Harshman picked up a third in the shot put with a toss of 42 feet, 11 inches. He broke his own school record in the weight throw with a toss of 40-5. That distance was good enough for fifth place.
The men's 1,600 relay team of Dennis Simmons, Paschal, Njenga and Michael Schaadt combined for a third-place finish.
Simmon picked up a fourth in the 400 and a sixth in the 200. Paschal was fourth in the 800, and Schaadt was sixth in the 400.
On the women's side, Tonya Christl broke her own record in the pole vault with a vault of 8-00, good enough for fourth place. Andria Parker placed sixth in the weight throw.
The Lancers will travel to Johnson City, Tenn., for the NAIA National Indoor Championships this weekend. Scheduled to comepte are Njenga in the mile and the distance medley relay team (Paschal, Stoffel, Schaadt, Simmons and Njenga). Njenga will run in the semifinals Friday at 2:20 p.m., while the men's mile finals are scheduled for Saturday at 2:05 p.m. The relay team will compete Saturday at 5:20 p.m.
