The Tiffin University men's basketball team (3-11, 1-5 G-MAC) put together arguably their best performance of the year, leading wire-to-wire to knock off Lake Erie 78-70 to earn their first conference win. The win also snapped a six-game losing streak and was their first win since December 3.
The Storm, coming into the game averaging over 90 points per game, were held to a season-low 70 points by Tiffin's stifling defense.
The Dragons started the game on a 6-0 run and never looked back. The two teams then traded runs nearly midway through the first half. The Storm turned an eight-point deficit to just one following a 7-0 run that all occurred in under a minute. Tiffin then answered with a big run of their own, an 8-0 spurt to take a 19-10 lead. Fueling the run was Allen Fordham, Caleb Bates, and DJ Gooden.
The Dragons continued their strong first half and took a 36-29 lead into halftime with the big difference maker being the free throw numbers. Tiffin was 11-of-12 at the line compared to Lake Eries just one make in four attempts.
The Dragons had to fend off multiple comeback attempts by the Storm in the second half and responded in a big way every time Lake Erie tried to make a run. Lake Erie started the second half strong to cut into the deficit, and Jonah Nesmith swished back-to-back three-pointers to maintain the Dragons' multiple possession lead.
Lake Erie was finally able to tie it with 13:43 remaining in the game to make it 46-46 and that was the only tie of the game and the first since tipoff. On the next possession, Dekyre Fuller converted a layup to give Tiffin the lead back and they held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.
The Fuller layup jumpstarted a 15-4 run to give the Dragons a 61-50 lead with 9:18 left and forced a Lake Erie timeout. A Fordham layup with just over four minutes left gave the Dragons a 72-59 lead, their biggest of the game. The Storm wouldn't go away quietly and a 6-0 run made it 72-65 with 2:48 left.
Down the stretch, the Dragons made 6-of-7 free throws to officially put the game away.
Four Dragons finished in double figures led by Fordham's 15 points. Michael Lucarotti had 14 points and Fuller and Gooden finished with 13 and 10, respectively. KJ Pruitt finished with four points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Bates finished with seven points and John Muhammad added five points and two rebounds.
Tiffin also had a big advantage in bench points, outscoring Lake Erie's bench 48-22.
The Dragons return to the road again as they travel to Michigan to play Northwood on Thursday, January 16 with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
