December 7, 2000

Hillsdale delivers hard shot to TU

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

The thinking is this killer of an out-of-conference schedule will better prepare the Tiffin University men's basketball team for an already challenging American Mideast Conference slate.

Even so, the Dragons don't want take any more shots like the ones delivered by Hillsdale at the Gillmor Center Wednesday night.

A tall, physical and quick group of Chargers simply outplayed the Dragons across the board in posting a 94-73 victory to improve to 5-1.

Hillsdale, which has height of 6-10, 6-8 and 6-6 up front, needed just five minutes to establish domination.

In that time frame the Chargers outrebounded the Dragons 12-3, committed no turnovers or fouls and held TU to 0-of-7 field goal shooting, all leading to a 13-0 lead.

The lead got to 15-0 before Tiffin made its first field goal of the game, a jumper by Kenny Lockhart, with 13:24 left in the half.

"I thought (at the start of the game) we shot poorly more than anything," Tiffin coach Steve Fleming said. His team fell to 1-6 after its sixth straight defeat. "We shot 32 percent in the first half, and you can't beat a good team like that shooting poorly. The thing is, we got some open looks, but just didn't knock down the shots. And I thought we were a little intimidated when we went into the post."

Post players Matt Mlynarchek and Dan McGrath did the bulk of the damage for Hillsdale. Mlynarchek accounted for 15 points and 10 rebounds, while McGrath went for 17 points and 10 boards.

They received plenty of help on the outside from guards Ed Carter (18 points, 10 boards) and Aaron Veldheer (nine points), who made a combined 5-of-11 3-pointers.

"They're a lot more physical than what we see in our conference," Fleming said. "I think we have similar athletes; they're just not as physical. McGrath's a big kid, who will push you underneath and even their big guy, Mlynarchek, is pretty skilled for a big guy. And I don't think there's anybody in our conference that will be similar to Hillsdale as far as that's concerned."

After the 15-point burst to start the game, Hillsdale's Brooks Miller nailed a 3-pointer and Veldheer connected on a pair of 3's as the Chargers built leads of 21-4, 32-11 and 40-14 on the way to a 45-28 halftime lead.

The Dragons had a short-lived run to start the second and got as close as 14 (49-35) after a 3 by J.C. Lenk at the 18:25 mark, but got no closer.

The lone highlight for TU came with 13:31 left in the second half, when forward Doug Taylor popped in a short jumper for his 1,000th career point.

Taylor is the 25th Tiffin University player to accomplish the feat.

"Doug's always had a knack for scoring," Fleming said. "That's really what he's brought to this program. He has the ability to take over games. He can go inside, he can go outside and he's a big body so he can post up, but he can also shoot from the perimeter. He's also worked hard on his handle and being able to take people of the dribble, so he's pretty versatile."

Taylor finished with 15 points to lead the Dragons. Tarik Dear scored 12 to go with 11 apiece from Kipp Huntsberger and Lenk.