TIFFIN, Ohio - The Dragons were able to tie up the game at 61 late in the second half after trailing by as much as 26, but Tiffin (2-5, 0-3) could not overcome late spurts of four and five unanswered points by the Huskies as Michigan Tech (8-1, 3-0) held on for the 77-74 win Saturday afternoon at Gillmor Hall.
After allowing Michigan Tech to hit 56.7% (17-30) of its shots in the first half, the Tiffin defense and full court pressure stymied the Huskies as TU forced 11 turnovers. They only allowed MT to shoot 33.3% (7-21) from the field in the second stanza. The Dragons turned it over seven times in the first half compared to Michigan Tech's two.
Senior Rafael Cuellar registered the first double-double of the season for Tiffin with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Junior Karl Finley led the Dragons with 19 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and freshman Joe Graessle poured in 19 with six assists on only one turnover. Junior Travis Spahr chipped in 11.
For the Huskies, Ali Haidar had the hot hand with 24 points on 6-10 shooting from the field and hitting 11 of 12 from the charity stripe. Alex Culy hit 6-8 from beyond the arc and added a pair of free throws for 20 points. Mike Honjacki contributed 16.
Tiffin trailed by 24 heading into intermission and Jordan Reetz added a jumper on the first possession of the second half to give Michigan Tech its largest lead of the game. Freshman Richard Morrow answered with a jumper and a steal by Finley and a three by Graessle cut the deficit to 21. Haidar added a jumper down the other way, but Tiffin got it under 20 with a Finley jumper and Graessle three ball.
Michigan Tech was able to get it back to 20, 55-35 with 16:31 remaining in the ballgame with a fastbreak layup by Honjacki, but Tiffin put another quick 7-1 run capped off by a furious dunk by Finley with 14:26 remaining. Honjacki added another fastbreak layup to put the Huskies back up 16, but a Scott jumper ignited a Tiffin 15-0 run to bring the Dragons within 58-57 with 7:02 left. During the stretch, the pressure defense turned Michigan Tech over six times and Scott added seven points with Morrow contributing a momentum-swinging three-point play the hard way to get the deficit to single digits at the 10:14 mark.
As it was all afternoon for the Huskies, Culy hit a huge momentum shot from behind the arc to put MT up 61-57, but a tip-in by Finley after a missed lay-up by Scott and a lay-up by junior Travis Spahr tied the game at 61 with 5:37 left. The Dragons forced a turnover and had a chance to take its first lead of the afternoon, but a charge and then a foul on the defensive end by Cuellar gave Haidar a pair of shots at the free-throw line. As he did all afternoon, Haidar hit both and put the Huskies up for good.
The Huskies led 67-65 with 3:10 left before a huge three by Culy and a pair of free throws by Haidar seemingly put MT up with an insurmountable seven-point lead with 1:43 remaining, but Tiffin would not go quietly. With Tiffin down six with 20 seconds left, Tiffin took the ball and Finley hit a three with three seconds left. After a TU timeout, Michigan Tech's Haidar committed a charge trying to fight through a screen on the in-bounds play and Tiffin would have one last chance, in-bounding from half court. Graessle threw it in bounds and was pitched the ball back, but his shot drew iron as the Huskies held on for the victory.
Tiffin continues its trek through the best teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Thursday (Dec. 16) when it hosts second-ranked Findlay. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
