Findlay, Ohio – This one was decided at halftime. Until it wasn't.
The University of Findlay men's basketball team rallied from an 18-point deficit through 20 minutes of action on Thursday, Feb. 22 against the Tiffin University Dragons and, in double overtime, would come away with a 79-78 victory in front of the most energetic Croy crowd of the 2024 season.
With the victory, the Oilers now have an 11-14 record on the season and sit at 8-9 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while the Dragons, which have suffered a season-sweep to Findlay, fall to 15-10 overall and 9-8 in the conference. Tonight's victory is the 46th win in 49 games for Findlay against their State Route 224 rivals and is the tenth consecutive time the Oilers have beaten the Dragons in Croy Gymnasium.
Findlay jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead early on, but the half and the momentum swiftly turned in favor of Tiffin, which scored the final ten points of the half including a half-court buzzer beater that sent the Oilers into the locker room trailing 40-22. That effort was tied for the fewest points scored in a first half by the Orange and Black this season.
One can only imagine what head coach Charlie Ernst's message was at the half, but Findlay's fiery leader must have said all the right things as his team came out in an extra gear.
It took less than five minutes to get the difference back to single-digits as UF would pull to within 46-37 with 15:41 to play.
The crowd was finally brought to its' feet at the 10:40 mark when a layup by freshman Will Aljancic, who would finish with a career night, pulled the Oilers to within one at 53-52. That bucket capped a 30-13 run by Findlay during which Aljancic scored 14.
Tiffin tried to pull away again, but the Oilers, which had struggled to hit shots thus far, finally took the lid off from three. A triple by Joey Edmonds with 6:29 to play made the score 59-55 and a minute later, a deep three by sophomore Max Roth finally tied the game at 60-60.
Findlay led by four with 1:48 to play, but the Dragons outscored the Oilers 6-2 over the remaining seconds, including an offensive rebound and put back by TU's standout big man, Wesley Jordan that sent the game to overtime.
Playing on tired legs, both teams struggled to score. The first four points of the first overtime came at the charity stripe but, with 1:35 to play, a two-hand slam by Aljancic put the Oilers ahead. Two more free throws by TU tied it at 74 and, after a turnover by Findlay inside of 20 seconds, the home team forced a miss and a turnover to send the game into a second extra frame.
Findlay got a free throw and a layup to take a 77-74 lead but a pair of free throws and a dunk, all by Wesley Jordan, gave the visitors a 78-77 lead with 2:03 to play. With 13 seconds left, Roth made the go-ahead layup and, as it did in the first overtime, the Oilers defense stood strong, forcing a pair of misses, including one at the buzzer, to seal the victory.
Both teams made 28 shots in the game, Tiffin on 62 attempts and Findlay on 61 attempts. The Oilers hit 7-of-23 (30%) from deep while the Dragons made 6-of-17 (35%) which included the first half, half court bomb. On the glass, UF won by 11, grabbing 40 rebounds to just 29 for TU. Ten of those rebounds were on the offensive glass for Findlay and of those ten, three came in overtime.
At the free throw line, Tiffin made 16-of-19 while the Oilers, which struggled down the stretch, made just 16-of-24 which included a combined six misses in the final three minutes of regulation and the two overtime periods.
Individually, Findlay got a myriad of impact performances, none bigger than the effort put forward by Will Aljancic. The Lousiville, Ohio native scored a career-high 27 points, 21 of which came in the second-half and overtime. Aljancic hit 8-of-14 from the field including 11-of-15 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed six rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass, had two steals, two assists, and a career-high four blocked shots.
Freshman Anthony Johnson, senior Joey Edmonds, and sophomore Max Roth each finished with 11 points on the night. Edmonds had four rebounds and led the team with three assists while Roth, who hit multiple big shots on the night including the eventual game-winner, finished with six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Sophomore Jagger Landers had eight points to go along with five boards and three blocked shots while senior Nathan Bruns scored seven points and led the team with eight rebounds. With those seven points, Bruns is now tied for sixth on the all-time scoring list at Findlay with 1,840 points. He is knotted up with Kyle Hunt (1999-02).
Findlay is back in action for another important game on Saturday, Feb. 24 when Hillsdale College comes to Croy. It will be the final home game for the Oilers this year and will begin with the celebration of the 2024 men's basketball senior class. The game will tip off at 3:00 pm.
Comments from Associate Head Coach Dan Shardo
