ASHLAND, Ohio - Junior Joe Graessle had his fifth straight 20+ scoring performance as the Tiffin University men's basketball team (7-13, 4-10 GLIAC) lost 67-64 to Ashland (6-11, 4-10 GLIAC), Saturday afternoon at Kates Gymnasium.

For the first five minutes, the game was close. Junior Mike Boan hit a free throw to make it 9-6, Ashland at the 16:18 mark. The Eagles went on a 14-5 run to lead by 12 with 10:19 to go.

Tiffin slowly chipped away at the lead. Freshman Khaleal McCormick slammed the ball home to tie the game at 34 with 41 seconds to go. The Dragons closed the half with a 23-11 run.

In the second half, AU made a run to take charge. They scored the first eight points, finished out by a 3-pointer by Cole Krizancic. That put Ashland up 42-34 with 17:28 to go.

TU came storming back with 11 straight points. Graessle hit a jumper in traffic to make it 45-42, Tiffin with 14:20 left. For the rest of the game, Ashland maintained a 2-to-4 point margin. The Dragons closed to one with three second left. However the Eagles hit two free throws to hang on.

For Tiffin, Graessle had 21 points and McCormick scored 12 points. Senior Cody Dennison had eight points and six assists.

For Ashland, Krizancic had 15 points with five triples and Evan Yates had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Tiffin is off until Saturday, Feb. 2, when they host Ohio Dominican. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. Live Stats will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/tiffin/

-TIFFIN UNIVERSITY-