Career Night From Schmalz Leads Dragons to Victory

Career Night From Schmalz Leads Dragons to Victory

TIFFIN, Ohio - Five Dragons scored in double figures as Tiffin men's basketball rallied for an 89-88 victory over Davis & Elkins College on Thursday night.

Senior Hunter Schmalz led TU with 20 points off the bench, including going 6-9 from beyond the arc. Joshua Williams added 17 points, six rebounds, and three steals, while Austin Adams (14), Terrell Mabins (11), and Austin Schaub (10) were the other Dragons in double figures. 

Despite being outrebounded 51-34, Tiffin held an advantage in most other categories, including shooting 38.2% (13-34) from beyond the arc compared to just 18.8% (3-16) from the Senators. TU recorded 20 assists to 11 for D&E, and held a 19-13 advantage in turnovers, 25-12 in points off turnovers, and 17-11 in fast break points.

Tiffin got off to a hot start, as a pair of triples from Schaub gave the Dragons a 10-4 lead at the 16:37 mark of the opening half. The Senators would rally, however, going up by nine points, 32-23, with just over five minutes to play in the period.

Thanks to back-to-back triples from Schmalz and Mabins, followed by a Mabins buzzer beater, the Dragons went into the break trailing by just four, 44-40.

Tiffin wasted no time in erasing the deficit early in the second-half, as another Schmalz three knotted the score at 52 at the 16:31 mark. The Senators were able to go back up 65-61 with 10:27 to play, but the Dragons responded with a 15-2 run that gave the home team a 76-67 lead with 7:13 to play. The run was full of highlights, including a pair of Williams triples, a thunderous Waldon dunk on the break, and a rim-rattling alley-oop from Mabins to Adams that brought the crowd to their feet.

However, Davis & Elkins responded with eight-straight points to cut the lead to just one with 5:49 to play. An old-fashioned three-point play by Williams put the Dragons back up by four a minute later, but the Senators again rallied to tie the game at 83 apiece with just under two minutes remaining in regulation and force a timeout.

The Senators came out of the timeout under their own basket, but threw a lazy in-bounds pass that was picked off by Waldon, who fired it to a streaking Mabins for the wide-open, two-handed slam on the break. A Waldon jumper and Adams spinning layup over the final minute of play proved to be enough for the Dragons to hold on, as Davis & Elkins had a chance at the end to take the lead but turned the ball over with two seconds remaining to give Tiffin the 89-88 victory.

With the win, the Dragons improve to 6-11 overall and 2-7 in the G-MAC. TU will look for another conference victory tomorrow night as they host Alderson Broaddus at 7:30 p.m.