Box Score It wasn't the start that the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team hoped for, but it was certainly a finish the Panthers enjoyed.
After trailing by 12 points late in the first half, KWC clamped down defensively in the second half to erase the deficit and eventually claim an 83-66 victory over Tiffin University in the Panthers' opening contest of the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge on Friday in Tiffin, Ohio.
The Dragons (0-1) were led by point guard Ashton Khan's 18 points, 13 of which came during the first half. Andy Bachman added 13 for Tiffin after scoring 11 in the first half.
As a team, the Dragons shot a blistering percentage from the floor during the first half, but they struggled against the Panthers' defensive adjustments after the break.
"That was a huge key for us tonight," Panthers coach Happy Osborne said afterwards. "Obviously, you can look at the 62 percent and 45 points we allowed in the first half. The second half, we held them to 21 (points) and 26 (percent).
"At halftime, every bone in your body says to go crazy. I thought I was calm. We talked, we said, 'Okay, we've got to reach down. There's no X's and O's for this. We've got to slow down Ashton Khan, find a way to get in front of him.' The bottom line was we contained the point guard, and that was it."
Osborne credited guard Nick Riley for his stifling defense on the Dragons' play-making ballhandler, opening the door for KWC as the game progressed.
"Nick Riley, Nick Riley, Nick Roley," he said. "He was so good in the second half on the ball and containing the people in front of him. We spend a lot of time on guarding the ball and pressuring, and I think in the last 10 minutes or so our depth got them. Nick was huge this game with his defense."
KWC cut the lead to 45-36 at halftime on Fillyaw's half-court heave at the buzzer.
The Panthers will close out their Ohio road trip with the second portion of the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge on Saturday against Wayne State, which lost 69-68 to Central State on Friday night.
"We've got good players who have great skills, but we have a long way to go," Osborne said. "In the second half, our defensive picked it up, and it will have to be good tomorrow night against Wayne State, who can really shoot the basketball. Our progress is taking steps daily, but we still have a lot of steps to go. We can only get better day by day, and that's what we have to do."
