The Tiffin University men's basketball team finished the week strong, beating the Walsh University Cavaliers 69-66. The Dragons have won three of their last four GLIAC games, using a late layup to take care of business on Saturday afternoon.
The Dragons' Jonathan Sutherlin scored the first bucket of the game for the Dragons, but it was Walsh who ran ahead early. The Cavaliers navigated ahead thanks to a 10-1 run to lead 10-3. The Dragons got back on track, taking the lead with a Chrisean Marsden layup at the 9:44 mark. The game continued to seesaw back and forth, with Walsh tying the score at 21-21 with a little over four minutes left in the 1st half. Another Marsden layup increased the Tiffin advantage to six, but the Cavaliers cut their deficit to two, and TU went to the half leading 29-27.
At the intermission, the Dragons were led by Tony Kynard with 10 points. The Dragon big men, Jonathan Sutherlin and Chrisean Marsden, combined for 13 points and 8 rebounds. Tiffin, the 2nd best rebounding team in the GLIAC, held a 22-18 advantage on the boards, leading to 10 second chance points.
Like a heavy weight title fight, the two schools went back and forth, trading buckets. The Dragons took a five point lead, but that quickly evaporated with Walsh tying the score at 38-38. A made jumper by the Cavaliers' Zac Carter gave Walsh a 40-38 lead, but Tiffin never backed down, tying the score three different times before breaking through with a Mohamed Rage layup to lead 54-53. The tide began to swing Walsh's way, as they scampered ahead on a 5-0 run to lead 61-56, but a technical foul flipped the script. After the technical, the Dragons bolted ahead with a 7-0 run, and more importantly, the tide which helped Walsh pull ahead, now swung the way of the Dragons. The Cavaliers, holding a one point lead, needed one defensive stop, but Tony Kynard would not be denied. Kynard sliced through the Walsh defense and bounced in the go ahead bucket. The Dragons, now needing a stop of their own, dug in and got it, sealing a 69-66 home victory.
Tiffin's Tony Kynard poured in a game high 27 points, including a 7 of 7 performance from the free throw line. Chrisean Marsden continued to patrol the paint, pitching in 16 points and 5 rebounds. Senior Jonathan Sutherlin collected his second double-double in as many games, scoring 10 points and flagging down 10 boards. The Dragons held a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint, a 12-5 advantage in second chance points, and a 42-34 rebounding advantage.
The win bumps the Dragons to 9-10 overall and 5-7 in GLIAC play.
