Dragons fall on late basket 77-75 in opener

Ian Lopez had 12 points for the Dragons.
Ian Lopez had 12 points for the Dragons.

Tiffin University (0-1) led until just 1:05 remained, but it wasn't enough as Maryville erased a 15 point second-half deficit to win 77-75.

The Dragons led for all but 1:45 of the game and held a 39-36 halftime lead.

The Dragons came out on fire at the start of the second half and looked to put the game away, going on a 25-13 run over the opening 10:00 to build a 64-49 lead midway through the half.

Maryville came back strong, erasing the deficit with its own 25-9 run over the next 9:00 and taking the lead for good 74-73 on a three-pointer with 1:05 to play. TU had multiple shots to tie or take the lead in the final 20 seconds but could not get the shot to fall.

Maryville outshot TU 50 percent to 38 percent and held a 34-20 edge in the paint, outrebounding TU 33-28.

Dalaino Walker led TU with 16 points, followed by Ian Lopez with 12. Morgan Taylor had 8 points and 9 rebounds with 3 assists, while Tylin Lockett-Fuller had 8 points. Braxton Foreman and Wesley Jordan chipped in 7 points apiece.