It was a close game the whole way through, with neither side holding a lead greater than seven points. The contest saw three ties and ten lead changes, but in the end the Tiffin University men's basketball team were unable to find a way to break through as the Dragons fell 58-56.
The Dragons led for the vast majority of the 1st half, achieving their largest lead of the game at 18-11 with 06:39 remaining in the opening half. The Warriors quickly erased Tiffin's lead with an 8-0 run to take a 19-18 lead with a little over four minutes remaining. Wayne State was able to maintain their slight lead, heading to the halftime locker room ahead 26-25.
Tiffin opened the 2nd half with a Shane Waldon made jumper and two free throws from Alex Brown to take a 29-26 lead. Once again, the Warriors erased Tiffin's lead in about four minutes of game time, going ahead with a jumper and free throw to lead 33-31. The Warriors continued to add on, pushing their advantage to its largest at 40-33 at the 15:20 mark.
Tiffin hung tough, staying within striking distance of Wayne State. Tiffin slowly chipped away at the Warriors lead, and with a little under two minutes remaining in the game took a 54-53 lead with a Shane Waldon tip-in. The lead lasted for 15 seconds, with Wayne State drilling a three point jumper to go up 56-54 with 99 seconds left.
With 15 seconds remaining and Tiffin trailing by four points, Alex Brown hit a jumper to make it 58-56. The Warriors then committed a turnover one second later to give Tiffin the chance to tie or win the game. The Dragons' hopes of a victory struck iron with three seconds remaining as a missed three pointer sent Tiffin's record to 2-7 overall and 0-4 in the GLIAC.
Austin Adams led Tiffin with 15 points and six boards. Shane Waldon chipped in with 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting. As a team, Tiffin hit 42.9% of their field goals and 38.5% of their three point attempts. Off the bench, Tristan Popa had a nice game from Tiffin, hitting 3 of 5 three point attempts.