TIFFIN, Ohio - Senior Joe Graessle and Sophomore Khaleal McCormick had over 20 points each as the Tiffin University men's basketball team (9-15, 5-14 GLIAC) beat Lake Erie (9-17, 6-14 GLIAC) 69-62, Thursday night at the Gillmor Center.

For the first four minutes, the teams battled on even terms. Andy Bosley hit a driving lay-up with 16:51 to go. That gave Lake Erie a 6-4 lead.

Tiffin stormed back with 11 straight points. Graessle hit a short jumper to make it 15-6, Dragons with 10:35 to go. The Storm came back with a 13-4 run tying the game with 4:48 left on a bucket by Nate Tait. The lead was never more than four the rest of the half.

In the second half, TU and LEC could not break the other team for the first eight minutes. Two straight time zone bombs by Graessle gave Tiffin an eight point lead with 10:17 to go.

The Dragons still led by eight, 61-53 at the 4:28 mark. Lake Erie chipped away and closed to three, 63-60 with 2:10 to go. TU closed on a 6-2 run to seal the game.

For Tiffin, Graessle had 29 points, 10 rebounds and five steals while McCormick had 22 points and nine rebounds. Junior Kelvin Toma had seven assists and three steals and senior Mike Boan had seven rebounds and blocked three shots.

For Lake Erie, Riley Thomas scored 22 points and Garrick Sims added 16.

Tiffin remains home, Saturday, Feb. 22, taking on Ashland. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. Live stats will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/tiffin/

-TIFFIN UNIVERSITY-