Who's Playing
Defiance Yellow Jackets @ PFW Mastodons
Current Records: Defiance 0-2, PFW 8-4
How To Watch
- When: Friday, December 20, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Gates Sports Center -- Fort Wayne, Indiana
- TV: ESPN Plus
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $2.00
What to Know
The PFW Mastodons will take on the Defiance Yellow Jackets in a holiday battle at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday at at Gates Sports Center. The timing is sure in the Mastodons' favor as the squad sits on seven straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while the Yellow Jackets have been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road also dating back to last season.
PFW will head into Sunday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they only won by two when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 23-point they dealt Eastern Michigan on Sunday. PFW put the hurt on Eastern Michigan with a sharp 99-76 win. The Mastodons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 19 points or more this season.
PFW's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Rasheed Bello, who went 6 for 11 en route to 19 points plus eight assists. The dominant performance also gave Bello a new career-high in field goal percentage (54.5%). Another player making a difference was Corey Hadnot II, who went 6 for 8 en route to 17 points.
PFW was working as a unit and finished the game with 23 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Defiance took a serious blow against Toledo two weeks ago, falling 111-49. The Yellow Jackets were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 55-23.
PFW has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. As for Defiance, their loss dropped their record down to 0-2.
Everything came up roses for PFW against Defiance when the teams last played back in November of 2017, as the team secured a 114-59 win. Does PFW have another victory up their sleeve, or will Defiance turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Series History
PFW won the only game these two teams have played in the last 7 years.
- Nov 12, 2017 - PFW 114 vs. Defiance 59