TIFFIN, Ohio - The Dragons held a 10-point lead in the opening moments of the second half, but a stretch of four threes and a layup helped the Chargers take the lead for good as Tiffin (3-11, 1-6) fell to 6th-ranked Hillsdale (13-0, 7-0) 75-68 Saturday afternoon on the campus of Tiffin University.
Junior Karl Finley led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field while freshman Joe Graessle added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists with no turnovers. Senior Rafael Cuellar added eight points and nine boards.
Brent Eaton added 22 points while Tyler Gerber had an efficient 20 points in only 18 minutes of action. Tim Dezelski came off the bench for nine rebounds.
A jumper by junior Travis Spahr and a layup by Cuellar gave TU a lead it did not relinquish the entire first half. Gerber came down and cut the deficit in half, but Tiffin answered with a 9-2 spurt to build its largest first half advantage. Junior Keenan Barlow and Spahr added a pair of layups to push the advantage to 8-2. Hillsdale added a bucket, but a three by Graessle and a layup by Cuellar gave Tiffin a 13-4 lead and forced a Hillsdale timeout.
The Chargers pulled within two, 21-19, with 3:45 left in the half and looked like they might take the lead, but Finley answered with a bucket and after a defensive stop, junior Brandon Harris got a layup and jumper to put Tiffin up eight. Eaton added a basket, but Finley stuck a jumper with 30 seconds remaining to put the home team up 29-21 at break.
In the second half, following a pair of offensive rebounds and two timeouts, Finley drove to the hole and gave Tiffin its largest lead of the game at 31-21, but 14 points over the next five offensive possessions for Hillsdale gave the visitors its first lead of the game. Graessle hit a three to give Tiffin back the advantage, but Brad Guinane hit a three at the other end to give Hillsdale the lead for good, 35-34, with 15:19 left. Hillsdale took a 12-point lead on an Eaton three with 10:59 left but Finley hit a three and Cuellar chipped in a layup to cut the deficit to seven. An Anthony Manno three brought it back to 10. Tiffin was able to get within five on an old-fashioned three-point play by Spahr with 2:45 left, but Hillsdale hit 10-of-14 at the line to complete the seven-point win.
Tiffin plays its first road conference game in more than a month and only its second game against an Ohio opponent Thursday (Jan. 13) when it travels to Ashland to take on the Eagles. Game time is 6 p.m.
