Box Score Rallying from a 19-point first half deficit, Kentucky Wesleyan got two huge 3-pointers from C.J. Blackwell and a clutch follow shot from Devin Langford in the final two minutes to defeat Tiffin 78-76 in the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge on Sunday afternoon in Detroit.
KWC improved to 2-0 and will play its home-opener at 7 p.m. on Tuesday against Lees-McRae at the Sportscenter.
"Our kids fought, they stayed with it," KWC coach Happy Osborne said. "In a game like this, you have to grind and grind and grind till the bitter end, and our kids did that. Just to get out of here alive is big.
"We didn't play well at all in the first half. We can't come out like we did. But we battled our way back into the game and found a way to win at the end, and you love to see that. It says a lot about our basketball team."
With just over two minutes to play, Tiffin (1-1) led 74-49, but Blackwell, who had scored only three points at that juncture, connected on consecutive 3-pointers — the latter putting the Panthers on top for the first time (75-74) with 1:17 to play.
The Dragons answered with a driving layup from Khaleal McCormick to regain the lead at 0:55, but Langford's putback with 24 seconds to go gave KWC the lead for good.
Tiffin turned the ball over against Wesleyan's pressure defense on its ensuing possession, and Marcus Fillyaw made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.8 seconds to play to account for the final margin.
"We've got to have C.J. Blackwell, and he came up big with the game on the line," Osborne said.
"And, Devin Langford put us on his back at times. We wouldn't have won without him."
Langford led KWC with a game-best 21 points, adding seven rebounds. Ken-Jah Bosley scored 19 points, Fillyaw had 14 points and three assists, and Jordan Jacks produced 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Tiffin dominated the majority of the first half on the strength of 9-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. The Dragons took their biggest lead (45-26) with just under two minutes remaining in the half and settled for a 47-33 advantage at intermission.
Leading the way for Tiffin was McCormick, who scored 18 points and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Andy Bachman, also 3-of-4 from 3-point range, added 15 points. Jonathan Sutherlin led the Dragons with 10 rebounds.
"Give Tiffin credit, they played very well," Osborne said. "The shot the lights out in the first half and did a good job against us, defensively.
"Fortunately, we were able to hang in there and come all the way back, and I'm very proud of our basketball team."
KWC tightened up at the defensive end in the second half, limiting Tiffin to 3-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc and 7-of-26 shooting overall (27 percent).
The Panthers also forced 13 turnovers for the game and won the rebounding battle, 41-29.
