OWENSBORO, Ky. - Tiffin men's basketball closed its GMAC-opening road trip at Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday, falling 87-71 to the Panthers.

Kentucky Wesleyan's offense was efficient in the contest, shooting 46% compared to 34.9% for the Dragons. Tiffin did shoot very well from the free throw line, however, converting on 19-21 attempts (90.5%) compared to 70.4% for the Panthers.

Tiffin outrebounded KWC 39-34 and oupaced the Panthers on the break to the tune of 10-2. Points in the paint were even at 42, but the Dragons lost the turnover battle 15-9.

Jairus Stevens led Tiffin with 24 points and 10 rebounds, including going 11-13 from the free throw line. Brevin Brimble connected on 4 of 7 three-point attempts for 12 points, while Trent Williams had 11 points and nine rebounds. Wesley Jordan was the other Dragon in double figures with 10 points.

Tiffin got off to a good start, taking a 12-7 lead at the 13:56 mark of the opening half on a Brimble triple. After the Panthers knocked down a three to cut the lead to two, Brimble pushed the Dragon advantage back to five with another three on the next possession.

Kentucky Wesleyan battled back to even things up at 15, however, and after a Thomas Hickman dunk stopped the Panther run momentarily, Kentucky Wesleyan went on a 25-11 run over the rest of the first half to take a 40-28 lead into the break.

KWC immediately pushed their lead up to 18 early in the second half, and the Panther lead would remain above 10 all the way until a Trent Williams free throw made it 66-56 with 8:08 to play.

Tiffin was able to bring the deficit down to single digits late, as a Jordan jumper in the lane made it 80-71 with 3:10 remaining. That was as close as the Dragons would come, however, getting outscored 7-0 over the final three minutes of action.

After a rough opening weekend of conference play, the Dragons will look to bounce back next Saturday when they host GMAC preseason favorite Walsh in the Gillmor Center.