TIFFIN, Ohio - Tiffin men's basketball lit up Ohio Dominican from deep on Saturday with 17 made threes and earned an 83-62 win in the season opener.
Overall, TU went 17-41 (41.5%) from beyond the arc, highlighted by a 10-19 (52.6%) performance in the second half. The total was just one triple shy of the school record of 18 made threes, which was reached once last year and once in 2004.
Tiffin led by just four at halftime, but that barrage from deep led to a 47-30 second-half advantage. TU's defense was strong as well, holding the Panthers to just 26-74 (35.1%) from the field and 8-28 (28.6%) from deep while also forcing 16 turnovers. The Dragons also dished out 21 assists and recorded seven blocks.
In his Dragon debut, sophomore transfer Jaeden King poured in a career-best 28 points, including shooting an impressive 50% (7-14) from beyond the arc. Tanner Johnson also made four triples on the afternoon, finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Braxton Foreman just narrowly missed a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds to go with nine points. Trent Williams also notched 10 points and a career-high eight assists for the Dragons.
TU and ODU traded blows for much of the first half, eventually coming to a 25-25 tie with 7:47 to play in the period. King then ignited an 8-0 run by getting fouled on a made-three pointer and converting the four-point play.
The Panthers were able to chip away at the lead before halftime, bringing the score to 36-32 at the break.
It was all Dragons in the second half, though, starting with a Wesley Jordan bucket and a highlight-reel putback dunk from Thomas Hickman. With a four-point lead at the 14:24 mark, Tiffin proceeded to go on a 21-5 run to go up 67-47 with just over eight minutes remaining. The run was made up of six threes (three from King, two from Johnson, one from Foreman) and an old-fashioned three-point play by Williams.
Tiffin would coast from there, extending their lead to as much as 25, 74-49, on another made triple from Johnson with four minutes to play. Reserves Evan Wiehe and Devaughn Munson got in on the fun late as well, each drilling a three in the final minutes as the Dragons earned the 83-62 victory.
TU's next game is scheduled to be at home on Wednesday, Dec. 9, welcoming Ohio Valley to the Gillmor Center at 5:30 p.m.