The Tiffin University men's basketball team (6-14, 2-11 G-MAC) never trailed in Saturday's contest as the Dragons easily defeated Malone 72-61 at the Gillmor Center.  

Tiffin started the game on a 9-0 run and never looked back on Saturday. TU won the opening tip which led to two made free throws by D'monyae Davis as the Dragons set the tone and controlled the game from start to finish.  

Buckets by Michael Lucarotti, Jacob Pleiman, and Noah Smith made it 25-10 with 7:55 left in the opening half. The Dragons led 36-22 with 1:42 on the clock and took a 36-26 lead into halftime as the Pioneers closed on a mini 4-0 run. Tiffin shot 60 percent in the opening half while holding Malone to a 34.5 percent shooting mark. 

A three-pointer by Pleiman with 12:42 left gave TU their biggest lead of the game 52-32 with 12:42 remaining. Malone responded with a 10-0 run to make it a 10-point game with 10:16 left. The run forced a TU timeout, and the Dragons quickly extended their lead back to 15 to halt any Malone momentum. 

Tiffin never surrendered their double-digit lead to close it out. 

Demar Burton had a big day recording 20 points, six rebounds, one assist, and three blocks. Lucarotti had 13 points and three rebounds while Jonah Nesmith recorded 12 points, three rebounds, and two blocks. Ethan Damerum chipped in with six points and nine rebounds.  

All seven players that saw playing time contributed to the scoring column.