December 22, 2000

Eagles snuff out the Dragons

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Tiffin University basketball coach Steve Fleming may have been scratching his head, but he certainly had plenty of company.

Many in attendance were wondering where the real Dragons were.

Just five days after playing Division II Ashland to a 92-83 game, the Dragons hosted the same Eagles team and got blown out of their own building, 90-74.

Only a late run after the Dragons trailed 88-62 with 1:42 remaining, made the final score somewhat respectable.

"I just got done telling (the team) I'm trying to figure out, from a consistency standpoint, why we didn't come out with that fire in our belly like we did at their place," Fleming said. "We're at home so we should be in a comfort zone and have that same fire in your belly.

"If you're going to play good teams, you have to show up and be ready to play," he said. "But we were flat. And I just don't understand it."

The Dragons (1-9) eventually captured that fire Fleming was searching for, but by then the Eagles (8-3) had built a 64-38 advantage.

The Dragons' leading scorer, Tarik Dear, was held without a point until the 13:58 mark of the second half.

At that point, Dear split two at the foul line and sandwiched a layup between two Doug Taylor buckets, one of them a 3-pointer, to bring Tiffin within 66-50 with 9:46 remaining.

But Ashland countered with a pair of foul shots from Kelvin Robinson, a bucket from Mark Bargar and a 3-pointer by Angelo Edwards to douse the fire.

"The fire's there, and I'll tell you, these guys can play with anybody," Fleming said. "They just need to compete for 40 minutes. You can't compete for 25 minutes and expect to win against the teams we have on our schedule.

"So I told our guys their first season is over. Now, we have to get ready for the conference," he said. "And this half of the season is going to get you where you want to go."

The Dragons held tight in the game's early stages, but a run by the Eagles midway through the first half, permanently separated the two teams.

Tiffin's Josh Martin scored off a Kenny Lockhart assist to bring the Dragons within 14-13.

But then the Eagles pulled away behind the play of their leading scorer, Isaac Kincaid, who hit a bucket in transition and then drained a pair of foul shots before assisting Robinson in the post.

That sparked a 16-4 run which had Ashland on top, 30-17, with 8:47 left in the half.

Kincaid and Edwards combined for 21 points in the first half, boosting the Eagles to a 47-28 lead.

"I think our guys have to do a little soul searching to figure out that we only have so many opportunities to do this," Fleming said. "We only have 26 opportunities to play and you want to take those opportunities to shine. Don't go back at the end of the year and say 'I wish I would have done this differently.' No regrets. Just go out and play."

Taylor paced the Dragons with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Brian Thompson (12) and Dear (10) also scored in double figures. Martin had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Kincaid led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points. Angelo Edwards had 17, Robinson 15 and Pat Rush 13.