PEDRO - Rumpelstiltskin turned straw into gold. The Ironton Fighting Tigers didn't turn turnovers into gold, but they were just as valuable.

Ironton converted 18 of 20 turnovers into points in the second half en route to a 92-40 win over the Rock Hill Redmen Tuesday.

After forcing just nine turnovers the first half to lead 39-25, Ironton stepped up its defense in the second half and cruised to its 13th win without a loss.

"We were lazy and slow the first half. We weren't running and jumping to the ball. We let them dribble the ball down the floor. That's not us," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said.

"In the second half, we got into our rotation and forced some turnovers. We took Christian away and forced someone else to shoot the ball."

K.C. Christian had 25 points for the Redmen, but only 8 in the second half.

Dennis Gagai and Joe Zornes led Ironton with 17 points while Brigham Waginger had 16 points, nine assists and seven steals. Shawon Miller came off the bench to score 10 points in the fourth quarter.

"We knew coming off the DeSales game we might have a letdown, but we wanted to play solid and keep our defensive pressure up," coach Zornes said.

While the defense was better in the second half, the offense was steady. Ironton hit 37 of 55 field goal attempts for 67 percent and 9 of 13 from 3-point range for nearly 70 percent.

Ironton, ranked fourth in the Associated Press Div. III poll, raced to an 8-0 lead and was up 13-2 as Gagai hit a pair of 3-pointers and Waginger another.

A layup by Marcus Williams and a steal and layup by Waginger made it 21-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Mark DePriest converted a 3-point play with 5:18 left in the half to get the Redmen with 28-17 only to have Ironton stretch the lead to 39-22 on a layup by Patrick Kouns. A 3-pointer by Christian at the buzzer made it 39-25 at the break.

But then came the third quarter.

Ironton forced 10 turnovers and Joe Zornes hit three 3-pointers as the Fighting Tigers outscored the Redmen 26-7 and build a 65-32 cushion.

Miller had a layup and a baseline jumper over the final minute to set the final score and give Ironton its biggest lead of the game.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 59-24 as Chad Miller scored 16 points, Jared Murphy 10, and Marc Carter and T.J. Keith 8 each. Aaron Butler had 11 for the Redmen.

Ironton21182627-92

Rock Hill81778-40

IRONTON (13-0):

Dennis Gagai 7-11 (3-5) 0-1 17, Brigham Waginger 6-14 (1-3) 3-6 16, Joe Zornes 6-9 (4-4) 1-2 17, Cliff Howard 4-5 (0-0) 0-0 8, Marcus Williams 4-4 (0-0) 0-0 8, Brent McBride 1-1 (0-0) 1-1 3, Greg Linn 2-2 (0-0) 1-2 5, Chad Miller 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Kouns 1-2 (0-0) 0-2 2, Brian Wirzfeld 1-2 (0-0) 1-2 3, Shawon Miller 4-4 (1-1) 1-2 10, Brandon Walker 1-1 (0-0) 1-2 3, T.J. Keith 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 37-55

(9-13)

9-20

92. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 5-18=23 (Gagai 4, Waginger 4, Zornes 3, Howard 3). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 22 (Waginger 9, Zornes 4). Steals: 24 (Waginger 7, Gagai 4). Turnovers: 5.

ROCK HILL (3-10):

K.C. Christian 9-18 (4-5) 3-4 25, Artie Mullins 1-4 (1-4) 0-0 3, Brian Skaggs 0-4 (0-4) 0-0 0, Mark DePriest 3-8 (1-3) 1-3 8, Andrew Stumbo 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Nick Howard 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Matt Matney 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Mike Ison 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Derek Robinson 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Mario Tolbert 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Nathan Davenport 0-0 (0-0) 2-4 2. Totals: 14-37

(4-16)

7-12

40. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: DePriest (4th 4:08). Rebounds: 3-12=15 (Mullins 4, Skaggs 4, DePriest 3, Christian 3). Team/deadball rebounds: 8. Assists: 3. Steals: 2. Turnovers: 29.