February 18, 1999
'D' leads Dragons past Rochester, 83-80
By Chris Homan
Sports Writer
Tiffin University coach Dan Brook wasn't a happy man when Rochester College scored 10 points in just under three minutes to open up the second half.
That run gave the Warriors a 59-54 lead, so it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure what the second-year coach would be screaming when his hands went together signaling a timeout -- defense, defense, defense.
Brook got his hustle on defense, only with a little offensive pep to compliment.
The Dragons (19-8) scored 12 straight points out of the reaming, enough to vault TU past Rochester for the second time this year, 83-80, in non-conference action.
''I knew it was going to be that kind of game. We had to rally to beat them the last time,'' Brook said of the now 11-15 Warriors. ''They can shoot the ball. They're big and they're physical and they're very well coached. They don't make a whole lot of mistakes and they execute well.
''Not a lot of people have probably heard of these guys, but they play just a brutal schedule; that's why they're 11-15,'' he said. ''The play the all the Division II teams in Michigan and then go down to Kentucky and play some of the best NAIA schools down there. And to top it off they've only had one home game since November.''
Brett Kuron looked as though he would send the Warriors home all by himself, hitting for eight of Tiffin's first 12 points and 20 of their 49 in the first half. In all the senior was 5-of-5 from the behind the arc, 6-of-8 for the game.
The only problem was that Tim Webb matched him shot-for-shot. Webb kept Rochester in the game, twice triggering runs when the Dragons looked to pull away.
The first came early following a Carson Duncan slam that erased a 6-point edge, and the second came right before the half when Webb hit eight straight points to help give the Warriors a 46-44 edge.
A Jemal Harris bucket at the buzzer notched the game at 49 at the half.
''Brett really got hot there in the first half and that really gave us a lift,'' Brook said. ''That Webb kid didn't even play that much the last time; (Bob) Kohfal was their big scorer. He (Webb) is quick and strong; we lost him. I thought Wayne Belcher did a great job defending him in the second half.''
And he did. Webb scored just seven points in the second half, but Kuron had just three -- a long ball with 14:45 left in the game.
In the mean time Harris and Josh Martin picked up the offensive pace. Harris finished with 16 points while Martin had 14 on 5-of-5 shooting.
Josh Miller found himself into the lineup after the Warriors opened up the second half red hot for his defense, and that defense was a pick-up on the offensive end.
Within 14 seconds of the Brook blow-up, Andreas James swooped to the hoop for a three-point play, Belcher hit a pair of turnaround jumpers, Harris scored in the post and Kuron burried a longball for a 66-59 TU lead.¥k@ _ ''Josh Miller...you know, a lot of people probably don't realize it, but, he really plays defense and he had a heckuva game tonight again,'' Brook said. ''He took a charge and got some big rebounds for us.
''In that timeout, all I wanted the guys to do was pick-it-up and get a few extra steps in their game,'' he said. ''We weren't being real aggressive and no one was coming up to cover on the outside shot.''
That run was pretty much it for Rochester. The Warriors got it down to three,73-70, but could never get over the hump.
''We got a lead tonight, but we could never deliver the knockout punch,'' Brook said. ''Sometimes we get a little excited and we try and take that big 3, or try to take an extra pass and we turn the ball over -- that happened tonight. It was about an eight-point game and three times we turned the ball over. We need to learn to be patient and keep going with whats got us there in the first place.
''When we're scoring at will, we want to keep doing the same thing that got to that point.''
Now the Dragons travel to Rio Grande on Saturday for a must win game.
''We have to win, that's all there is to it,'' Brook said concerning his teams American Mideast status. ''Right now we're tied with Malone and one game behind Mount Vernon after Malone beat them (Monday) night.
''I really would like to get that first-round bye in the tournament, but to do that we have to win and not rely on them (Malone) losing.''
And defense might just do the trick.