The Tiffin University men's basketball team was in control of the scoreboard for 32 of the 40 minutes in their matchup with Ashland University, but in the final few minutes key misses from the free throw line cost Tiffin the game,falling 58-54 to Ashland.
The Dragons started the game strong, rolling out to a 16-8 lead with 09:29 left to play in the half. The Eagles slowly cut into Tiffin's lead, doing so with long range bombs as Ashland connected on 5 of 14 three point attempts. The Dragons were able to match Ashland's long range jumpers with success in the paint as Tiffin scored 16 of their 31 1st half points in the painted area. TU didn't relinquish their lead, but it was as slim as it could be as Tiffin headed to the locker room with a 31-30 lead at halftime.
The Dragons were able to add to their lead as the 2nd half got under way, using a pair of Tristan Popa triples to take a 47-41 lead with 09:38 left to play. Ashland crawled back in as the clock slowly crept towards the end of regulation, tying the game 49-49 with 04:32 left. After a pair of missed free throws by Tiffin, the Eagles took their first lead of the half with a pair of made shots from the free throw line to make it 53-51. The Dragons offense went cold in crunch time, being held without a bucket for three minutes as Ashland pushed their lead to 54-51 with 26 seconds left. Alex Brown gave it his best in the final 30 seconds, scoring Tiffin's final three points, but it just wasn't enough as the Eagles escaped with a 58-54 win. Tiffin missed only four free throws in the 2nd half, but three of the four came in the final five minutes of game time.
The Eagles had success against Tiffin on the boards, holding a 32-27 rebounding lead, enabling Ashland to hold a 17-9 lead in 2nd chance points. The Dragons were led on the offensive end by Alex Brown and Tristan Popa with 12 point each. All of Popa's points came from beyond the arc, being the only Dragon to make a triple as Tiffin finished the game 4 of 16 as a team. Austin Adams led Tiffin in rebounding with seven boards.
The Dragons fall to 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the GLIAC.