TIFFIN, Ohio - Tiffin men's basketball used a big run late in the first-half to build a lead they would never relinquish, defeating Purdue Northwest 95-83 on Saturday afternoon to win the two-day Tiffin Thanksgiving Tournament.
With their second-straight win, the Dragons improve to 2-3 on the season. TU will travel to Ball State for their third Division I exhibition contest of the year on Tuesday before opening conference play with a pair of big games next Thursday and Saturday with G-MAC frontrunners Findlay and Hillsdale at home.
Tiffin had a significant advantage shooting in the game, hitting 51.6% from the floor to 41.1% for the Pride and 42.1% from deep compared to just 26.7%.
The Dragons were also able to play to their strength and get out and run in transition, outscoring the Pride 30 to 9 in fastbreak points.
Austin Adams had his best game of the young season with a 29-point outing while also grabbing eight boards and dishing out three assists. Joshua Williams and Shane Waldon also finished in double figures for the Dragons, recording 18 and 17, respectively.
Terrell Mabins also added five assists to go with nine points in the win.
It was very close during the first ten minutes as the teams battled back-and-forth, with neither squad holding a lead of more than three points. After the score was tied at 22 at the 10:34 mark, Tiffin broke out with an 18-3 run over the next five minutes to go up 40-25 with 6:27 remaining in the half. Williams started the run with a pair of free throws before Adams took matters into his own hands with a thunderous dunk and transition triple on back-to-back possessions. Thomas Hickman squeezed in a layup to up the lead to nine, followed by Adams again with a layup and a three that gave the Dragons a 14-point lead that would stretch to 15 moments later.
Aided by strong free-throw shooting, Purdue Northwest was able to close the gap going into the break, cutting the Tiffin lead to 50-44 after 20 minutes of play.
The Dragons were able to stem the Pride momentum to begin the second period, however, extending their lead to 16 at the 14:39 mark on a free throw by Williams. The advantage remained around 10-15 points throughout the rest of the game, as solid defense and free-throw shooting sealed the victory for Tiffin.