The Tiffin University men's basketball team fell behind early in their game against Lake Superior State, but charged hard in the 2nd half only to come up short, 102-93.
The Lakers blitzed the Dragons from the opening tip, running ahead 10-0. Lake Superior State continued to pour it on the Dragons in the opening half, draining 11 three point buckets. Tiffin managed to hit only 31% of their shots in the half, including a 1 of 14 performance from beyond the arc. Tiffin went to the half trailing the Lakers 55-30. At the break, Tiffin was led in scoring by Austin Adams with 10 points off the bench. The stellar play by Adams would continue in the 2nd half.
It was the tale of two halves for Tiffin's offense, but it took a while for the offensive motor to fire. Lake Superior State hit a jumper to extend their lead to its largest at 69-40, but it was the Dragons' offense that came to life from that point on. Over the next ten minutes of play, Tiffin outscored the Lakers 32-19 to cut their deficit to 16 points. Tiffin continued to chip away at the Lakers' lead, and with 01:33 remaining Tiffin found themselves down by only nine points at 93-84. The Lakers were able to withstand Tiffin's run, and ultimately defeated the Dragons 102-93.
Tiffin's turnaround is due in large part to their long range shooting and Austin Adams' monster game. Tiffin hit six three pointers in the 2nd half, after netting only one in the 1st half. The other standout was Austin Adams' career day, scoring 26 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. The 19 boards are the most by a Dragon since Tiffin started participating at the NCAA Division II level.
The Tiffin defense struggled to contain the Lakers' offense, with Lake Superior State scoring 44% of their points from the three point line. The 102 points surrendered are the second most allowed to a GLIAC opponent since 2008.
Adams led Tiffin with 26 points, Juwan Johnson and Khaleal McCormick each chipped in with 15 points, Brandon Wilkins added 12 off the bench, and Alex Brown scored 10 points.
Tiffin falls to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in GLIAC play.