The three ball proved costly on Thursday night for the Tiffin University men's basketball team as they fell to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats 75-56. Tiffin allowed the Wildcats to drain 10 triples, and shoot 44.8% from the floor while managing only 32.7% shooting from the field themselves. Tiffin had little success from distance, knocking down only 6 of 22 three point attempts.
In the opening five minutes of the 1st half the Dragons trailed by a bucket at 8-6, but the Wildcats rattled off five quick points to make it 13-6. Tiffin responded with four quick points to make it 13-10 Wildcats with 11:35 remaining on the 1st half clock. Then the bullet train that was the Northern Michigan's offense whistled by Tiffin on a 21-9 run to end the half and send the Dragons to a 37-19 halftime deficit.
It was more of the same for Tiffin in the 2nd half as they were matched step-for-step by Northern Michigan. The Dragons' offense did have a better go of it in the 2nd half, hitting five triples and shooting 37% from the field. The charity stripe was also kind to Tiffin in the half, as 12 of their 37 2nd half points came from the line. In the end it was Tiffin's defense that had too many lapses, allowing the Wildcats to score 40% of their 75 points from beyond the arc. Northern Michigan left the door open for the Dragons, as the Wildcats connected on only 5 of 16 free throw attempts.
Individually, Tiffin was led by Justin Miller and Alex Brown with 11 points each. Miller, doing his damage off the bench, scored all of his points in the 2nd half. Brown hit 4 of 9 shot attempts and hauled in six boards to give him 453 for his career.
The Dragons will remain in the Upper Peninsula for their next game, taking on Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon.