Ferris State Comeback Falls Short In Wild Finish Against Tiffin

Tiffin, Ohio. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad battled back in the final minute, but came out on the short end of a 84-83 decision in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action against the Tiffin Dragons on Sunday (Dec. 13) at the Gillmor Center in Tiffin, Ohio.

FSU trailed by double-digits late in the contest, but pulled back within two points at one stage before Tiffin held on for the one-point victory in a wild finish. The game featured three technical fouls along with a scoring discrepancy in addition to a total of 37 fouls.

The Dragons held a 10-point lead with 1:28 to play before FSU rallied and trimmed the margin down to a single basket at 82-80 on a long three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. FSU fouled with TU hitting one of two free throws, but the Bulldogs turned the ball over and the Dragons held on for the win.

The Bulldogs had led 42-41 at halftime. However, Tiffin jumped in front with a big run to start the second half and held off FSU as the Bulldogs were hampered by a 12-of-28 (42.9%) performance from the free throw stripe.

Ferris State was led by senior forward James Chappell with 20 points while senior forward Josh Fleming added 16 points and senior center Jared Stolicker notched 15 points.

The Dragons received a game-high 28 points from guard Tony Kynard along with 18 by Chrisean Marsden and 14 from Andy Bachman. Alex Brown added 11 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double effort while senior Jonathan Sutherlin pulled down 10 boards as well.

Tiffin shot 50.9% from the floor and made seven-of-13 (53.8%) three's. They also converted 21-of-28 (75%) free throws in the triumph. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shot 46.3% overall and sank nine-of-27 (33.3%) three-point tries in defeat.

Ferris State slightly outrebounded TU 36-35 for the day and pulled down 15 offensive boards to nine for the Dragons. FSU also held a 20-14 margin in second chance production, but Tiffin outscored FSU 19-14 in points off turnovers with the Bulldogs totaling 14 miscues compared to 16 for the Dragons.

While the Bulldogs'  bench outscored TU's 21-13 and FSU tallied 42 points in the paint to 36 for the Dragons, Ferris State was not able to rally back enough to pull out the victory in a game that featured eight lead changes and was tied twice.

Ferris State finished with 14 assists, including four from Cushingberry and three apiece by Chappell and senior guard Jibreel Jackson. FSU also had seven blocked shots with a game-high three from Stolicker and added five steals. The Dragons totaled 12 assists, nine steals and three blocks in the outing.

With the setback, the Bulldogs fell to 8-2 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC this season following a weekend split on the road. TU improved to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

Ferris State opens the New Year back at home in league action on Jan. 2-3 against Findlay and Wayne State, respectively, at FSU's Jim Wink Arena. Both games are slated for 3 p.m. (ET) starts.