TIFFIN, Ohio – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (12-5, 7-2 Great Midwest) lost on the road at Tiffin University (11-5, 5-3 Great Midwest), 81-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Gillmore Student Center.
Tiffin leads the all-time series 7-3 and extended their active win streak in the series to five.
BREAKING IT DOWN
The Trojans never led in the game. Trevecca tied the game at 7-7 on a Pete Lambesis layup, but Tiffin regained the lead and never gave it up.
Tiffin built its lead to double digits and the Trojans cut it to single digits a couple of times as the first half continued. Trevecca cut the Tiffin lead to five (38-33) with 1:39 left in the first half. The Dragons closed the half with a 7-0 surge and rebuilt their lead to 12 (45-33) at the break.
After Pete Lambesis scored the opening basket of the second half, Tiffin scored five straight to build what would be their largest lead, 15 (50-35) with 16:55 to go.
Trevecca closed the gap a few times, their most threatening run came with seven straight points that pulled them to within five with 5:09 to go. The Trojans got it to five again with 3:13 to go but the Dragons rebuilt a double digit lead and it was enough to hold off the remaining challenges from the Trojans.
KEY PLAYERS
Four Trojans scored in double figures led by
Jalen Page who scored 19 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the double-double. Jamal Cannady (18), Pete Lambesis (15), and
Tommy Gankhuyag (10) were the other three. Page added a team-high three assists and went 4-7 from deep. Pete Lambesis also had a double-double with 11 rebounds.
TEAM TIME
Trevecca shot 50.8% (30-59) from the field, but struggled from deep and the foul line hitting just 34.8% (8-23) and 60% (9-15) respectively. The FT% matches the season low. Trevecca had the edge in rebounds 38-32, but turned the ball over 17 times (TU 8). It is the second most turnovers for the Trojans this season and the third lowest for an opponent. Tiffin dished out 19 assists to the Trojans 10. It equals a season high in assists for a Trojan opponent and the next to last total for the Trojans in a game.
UP NEXT
The Trojans host Lake Erie College (5-12, 3-6 Great Midwest) next Saturday, January 27 in Trojan Fieldhouse at 3:00 PM. It is the only meeting of the regular season for the Storm and the Trojans. Trevecca is 1-8 versus Lake Erie all-time; the Storm have won the last seven meetings. The Purple and White last won in the series on January 25, 2020, a 54-69 win at the Trojan Fieldhouse.
