TIFFIN, Ohio - The Dragons were able to score the first point of the game on a free throw, but the Eagles hit the first of 10 threes in the game and never looked back as Ashland (11-9, 5-8) upended Tiffin (6-15, 4-10) 81-69 Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles hit 50% (17-34) from the field and 8-12 from beyond the arc to build a 42-32 advantage at the half and held Tiffin off in the second with a 15-7 edge in fouls and 20-5 gap in free throw attempts.

Tiffin was led by freshman Joe Graessle with 24 points, five assists and four steals. He also added a team-leading four rejections, coming into the game with only one for the season. Junior Karl Finley contributed 18 points and six boards while senior Rafael Cuellar had an impressive line with eight points, eight boards and a game-leading six assists.

David Harris led Ashland with 22 points while Evan Yates had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Kale Richardson contributed 12 points and nine boards.

Finley split a pair from the line on Tiffin's opening possession, but Ashland quickly took a lead it never relinquished when Will Evans, Jordan Berlin and Harris all added threes with a Richardson layup to make it 11-1 visitors. Tiffin quickly answered with a layup by freshman Devin Russell and a pair of threes by Graessle and Scott, but Ashland responded with a jumper and two layups to build the lead to 20-12 10 minutes into the game. Three more times Tiffin climbed within five the rest of the half, but each time Ashland answered with a three to stop any TU momentum.

In the second with Tiffin down 44-38, Graessle connected on a pair of jumpers to pull Tiffin within two with 17:11 left, but TU came no closer. Yates made a layup, Evans split a pair from the charity stripe and Yates and Harris added lay-ups to push Ashland's lead back up to nine. Tiffin never climbed within seven the rest of the way.

Tiffin returns to action Thursday when it makes the short jog down US 224 to play Findlay. Tip is at 6 p.m.