Box Score In Pennsylvania on Wednesday, the talk was all about whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow. Would there be six more weeks of winter?
On Saturday (Feb. 5) at Tiffin, the AU men's basketball team defeated Tiffin, 81-69. Could this mean six more weeks of basketball?
This has been an up-and-down campaign for the Eagles, who rely on youngsters all over the basketball court. That's made for a season with inconsistencies. At no point this season have the Eagles (11-9/5-8 GLIAC) won more than three consecutive times.
Yet now, as the home stretch to the regular season looms, the Eagles have a two-game winning streak and victories in three of their last four games. The only loss in that stretch came to a Findlay team ranked fourth in the nation.
Can the Eagles put together a February run and make some postseason noise in early March? A performance like the one at Tiffin lifts the hopes of AU fans. The Eagles outrebounded the Dragons, 43-32 and in the first half, shot 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field. Over the last two years, the Eagles have not been known for their ability to consistently knock down three-point field goals but on this afternoon, they drilled 10-of-17 (58.8 percent). That's the most triples AU has had in a game this season and that three-point percentage is the best of the season.
AU was ahead, 42-32 at halftime. Tiffin cut that lead down to 44-42 with 17:11 left in regulation, but the Eagles gathered themselves and scored the game's next seven points to take a 51-42 lead with 15:02 to play. At the halfway point of the second half, the Eagles were in front, 61-51. The Dragons (6-15/4-10 GLIAC) got no closer than nine points the remainder of the game.
Point guard David Harris (Cincinnati, Ohio/Florida) gave the Eagles a yeoman performance in every sense of the word. For most of this year, Harris has shared the point guard spot with Ronnie Steward (Columbus, Ohio/Akron). But Steward is ailing with a shoulder injury and is unavailable. Harris went 40 minutes against the Dragons and tied his season-high of 22 points. Harris was 4-for-5 from three-point range – this was the second time this season he had a quartet of triples (the other game was against Millersville on Dec. 30). Harris also had three assists and four steals.
Freshman guard Jordan Berlin (Wilmington, Ohio) was AU's other long-range bomber. He knocked down 3-of-4 three-pointers on the way to nine points. Entering the game, Harris was shooting 33.8 percent (22-of-65) from three-point range and Berlin was at a team-best 35.7 percent (10-of-28).
Take that outside shooting and combine it with the work inside of sophomore forward-center Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) and the Eagles had as formidable an attack as they've had all season. Yates had 20 points and 11 boards. In 17 second half minutes he had 16 points and six rebounds. This was the fourth time in the last seven games Yates scored 20 or more points. He's averaging 13.1 ppg., and 6.4 rpg. He's second on the team in both categories. The 11 rebounds Yates yanked down against Tiffin ties his season high.
Senior forward Kale Richardson gave the Eagles 12 points and nine rebounds. Thanks in large part to that duo, the Eagles rolled to a 19-10 advantage in second chance points.
Tiffin was paced by guard Joe Graessle's 24 points, five assists and four steals. The other starting guard, Karl Finley scored 18 points. No one else reached double digits for the Dragons. Tiffin shot 41.8 percent from the floor. Take away Finley's and Graessle's numbers and that total drops to 38.8 percent (12-of-31).
The win gives AU a season sweep of Tiffin. In Ashland on Jan. 13, Ashland downed the Dragons, 69-65.
AU has a critical home stand next week. On Thursday (Feb. 10, 5:30 p.m.), the Eagles play 17th- ranked Grand Valley State and on Saturday (Feb. 12, 1 p.m.), talented Ferris State will be in town.
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