SALEM, West Virginia - Back in November, Salem fell in a tight game against the Tiffin Dragons on the road. On Wednesday night, the Dragons came to Salem for the return leg of their 2 game series with the Tigers. Salem took this game with vengeance with an 89-57 win fueled by a career night 47 point performance from Rodney Smith. 

In the first half, Salem fell behind initially, and the Dragons jumped out to an initial lead. However, that Tiffin advantage would be short lived, and the Tigers took control of the game with a jumper from Rodney Smith. Smith ran the Salem offensive attack with gusto, and Salem quickly built a double digit advantage. Fope Okuyiga and Riley Heatherington played well towards the end of the half, and Salem went into the locker room leading 36-19. 

After the intermission, it was more of the same as a brief Tiffin rally was thwarted by hot outside shooting from Stan Smith and Rodney Smith. The Tigers also got some solid contributions from Brandon Francois, and Ian Hardy down the stretch. With the game well in hand, the Tiger's advantage grew to its largest of the evening in the closing seconds of the game. Salem cruised to an 89-57 blowout win over their foes from Tiffin. 

Clearly, the star of the night was Rodney Smith who seemed to score at will for the Tigers on his way to 47 points. That was a career high for Smith, and the largest scoring performance for a Tiger since his teammate Stan Smith dropped 42 on West Virginia Wesleyan earlier this season. Stan Smith was the only other Tiger in double figures in scoring with 15 points. Additionally, Ashraf Tchadouwa controlled the paint for Salem all night and racked up 12 rebounds. 

The dominant performance should propel the Tigers into their next contest. They are a set to head down to southern West Virginia for a road battle with Bluefield State on Saturday, January 28th at 4 PM.