TIFFIN, OH - A pair of huge second-half runs from the Tiffin University Dragons spoiled a first-half lead and a career-high 29 points from Salem International University Tigers junior Ignacio Rodriguez. After trailing 39-37 at the end of the first-half, the Dragons caught fire to out-score SIU 59-41 in the second-half en route to a 96-80 win Thursday night (Feb. 9) in NCAA Division II men's basketball action.

The Tigers will travel to Vienna, WV on Saturday, Feb. 11 for a 4 p.m. matchup with Ohio Valley University. The Tigers and Fighting Scots play each other twice in the span of 11 days, as OVU will come to Salem on Feb. 22 for the Tigers final contest of the season.

Rodriguez tallied 17 first-half points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor for the Tigers. He started the contest 4-of-5 from three-point range and would finish the half 5-of-8. Senior Victor Blakey and junior Saquan Epps combined to score 12 points for SIU, with Epps recording a team-high four boards in the half.

SIU had its largest lead of the contest (six points) with 14:10 left in the opening stanza after a trey by Rodriguez gave the Tigers a 14-8 lead. Both teams would continue to play a tightly contested game as the Dragons would knot the score 35-35 with 43 ticks left in the half. After a turnover by the Dragons and timeout by the Tigers, Blakey would give his team a two-point cushion (37-35) at the break following his layup with six seconds remaining.

Austin Adams and Juwan Johnson would cause problems for the Tigers in the second-half. Following a dunk by Tigers senior Dominique Robinson that would give SIU a 42-41 lead, the Dragons would go on a 10-0 run to go up 51-42. Adams tallied five points during the run by Tiffin, while the other five points would come from Alex Brown.

Continuing to claw their way back in the game, the Tigers would mount a come-back with 14-minutes left in the contest. The Tigers went on an 11-0 run to turn a 15- point deficit into a four-point game with 10:56 remaining. Epps recorded five points during the stretch for SIU, knocking down a trey and a layup in the paint.

Tiffin saw the Tigers stay within single-digits until Brandon Wilkins hit a jumper in the paint with 4:39 remaining to give the Dragons an 11-point lead (78-67). The lead for Tiffin would swell to 18 points with 1:53 remaining as Johnson drained a three-ball to make it 89-71. Epps found himself in the paint with time running-out, connecting on a jumper just before the buzzer to finish the contest. The Dragons won their 11th game of the season with the 96-80 final.

Rodriguez finished the game 8-of-19 from the floor, 7-of-13 from downtown, and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line with six rebounds. Epps recorded a team-high seven rebounds to go along with his 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Blakey paced the Tigers with three assists while adding 15 points. The Tigers finished the game 28-of-70 from the floor, 10-of-26 from downtown, and 14-of-18 at the free-throw line.

Adams scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Dragons to victory. Adams finished the game 14-of-18 from the floor and recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds. Johnson added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Brown tallied 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds. The Dragons shot 37-of-71 from the floor, 7-of-20 from downtown, and 15-of-22 at the free-throw line.

The Dragons went 23-of-36 (64 percent) from the floor in the second-half, while SIU went 13-of-33 (39 percent) from the floor. Tiffin out-rebounded the Tigers 51-29 in the contest and had 40 points in the paint compared to 30 for SIU. The Tigers did score 23 points off of Tiffin turnovers compared to 16 for the Dragons.