COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sophomore Joe Graessle set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season as the Tiffin University men's basketball team (15-14, 7-12 GLIAC) closed the 2011-12 season losing 70-66, to Ohio Dominican (4-22, 1-18 GLIAC), Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall.
The first five minutes were played like a chess match. Tied at 10 with 14:55 to go, Tiffin made its move. Over the next 10 minutes, a 22-8 run put the Dragons up 32-18 at the 5:09 mark. Ohio Dominican chipped away. A jumper by Aaron Gibbs made it 36-29, TU at the break.
The second half was played at snail's pace, due to 30 free throw attempts by both teams. The Panthers opened the second half with a 13-5 run. A layup by Jake Mochoskay gave ODU the lead, 42-41 at the 15:32 mark.
The lead went back-and-forth until the 7:36 mark. Ohio Dominican outscored TU 7-1 to go up by seven, 61-54 with 5:53 to go.
The Dragons refused to go gentle into the night. They hit a bucket and the teams traded triples. Then, senior Keenan Barlow hit a free throw, and senior Karl Finley and freshman Iman Johnson hit buckets.
That tied it at 64-64 with 2:02 to go. The Panthers hit six free throws in the last 77 seconds to hold the TU rally off.
For Tiffin, Graessle had 13 points, two steals and hit three triples. That gave him 91 for the season, breaking the record of 89 set by Ricky Spencer in 1992-93. Finley led the team with 18 points and six assists while senior Travis Spahr scored 17. Johnson had 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals and senior Brandon Harris had 12 rebounds and blocked two shots.
For Ohio Dominican, Morgan Jones scored 22 points, Mochoskay had 17 points and Gibbs tallied 16 points.
-TIFFIN UNIVERSITY-
