Eagles defense leads to 70-50 win over Dragons

Tiffin University

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With the game tied 8-8 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half it was apparent that both Tiffin University and Ashland's offenses were struggling. The Eagles went on an 11 point burst over the next four minutes though, while the Dragons were held to two points over that span to give them a comfortable 12 point lead. The Eagles would keep a double digit lead the rest of the game, leaving TU with a 70-50 victory.

The Dragons took an early 8-6 lead with 15:19 left to play in the first half after DeAngelo Jordan nailed a three pointer off a pass from Mike Hammonds. The Eagles scored a 90 seconds later to tie the game at eight and took the lead for good two minutes after that. The Dragons would only score eight more points the rest of the half, trailing 34-16 at the break.

"This is the best defensive team we faced, the one that has given us the most pressure on the half court," said TU Coach John Hill. "They had a little trap and they doubled and we couldn't get into the flow on offense. We just could not get into it. Ashland just came out and really played well defensively."

The Dragons pretty much scored with Ashland in the second half as TU scored 34 to Ashland's 36, but the first half was just too much for the Dragons to overcome.

"We're still young, we're still learning. It's still early in the season," Hill said. "It hurts we haven't got to play much at home and there are no easy games. In the first half we shot 28 percent. You're not going to beat anyone shooting 28 percent."

After the Dragons struggled on 7-for-25 shooting in the first half, they were able to shoot 14-for-24 in the second half to pull their percentage up to 43 percent for the game. Brian Scott scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Dragons. He was backed by Brandon Harris (5-6 from the field) who scored ten. Jordan grabbed a team high seven rebounds while Keenan Barlow added five.

Tiffin University falls to 1-6 (0-3 GLIAC) with the loss while improving Ashland to 3-3 (1-2). The Dragons next game is a week from today at Lake Superior State.