Box Score This is no tall tale, against one of the biggest, strong teams in the GLIAC, the Ashland University men's basketball team kept putting itself in a position to win. While the final verdict didn't go in Ashland's favor, the Eagles did the basketball version of the steeplechase – they kept dodging hazards on the way to the finish line.
Hillsdale had just enough on Saturday (Jan. 19) at Kates Gymnasium to hold off the Eagles, 54-48. AU trailed by 14 points, 40-26 with 14:06 left to play in regulation. The Eagles fought back to deadlock the game, 41-41 with 8:04 to go. The game was still tied, 46-46 when the Chargers went ahead to stay on center Nick Washburn's tap-in of Cody Smith's missed layup. That came with 36 seconds left and gave HC a 48-46 advantage.
AU suffered a turnover on its next possession when senior guard David Harris (Cincinnati, Ohio/Florida) stepped out of bounds and then a free throw by Washburn and a charity toss by Cody Smith with 24 seconds left gave the visitors a 50-46 lead. Finally, the Eagles were faced with a problem they couldn't solve.
The loss leaves the Eagles with a 5-10 record, 3-9 in the GLIAC. Hillsdale is 12-4 and 8-4. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. AU goes to Hillsdale on Feb. 16.
"I was proud of the way our guys battled back," said AU head coach John Ellenwood. "We just didn't get a rebound there at the end. We had to take care of some loose possessions. A lot of times the game doesn't come down to X's and O's, it can come down to a crazy play."
Washburn is a 6-10, 260-pound mountain man and Tim Dezelski, at 6-6, 235 pounds, is a pretty impressive space eater, too. Ashland's best chance to counter that was 6-6, 245-pound senior forward Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills). When he went to the bench with two fouls with 11:20 to go in the first half, the fear on the AU bench was that the Chargers would build a lengthy lead that would be too much to overcome. That didn't happen. At halftime, Hillsdale was in front, 24-23.
Washburn finished with 20 points and nine rebounds and Dezelski had eight points and three rebounds. Yates ended up with 34 minutes of game action and had 14 points and five rebounds. He moved past Greg Emmons into second place in career rebounds at Ashland. Entering the game, he needed three caroms to make that move.
AU was able to stay in the game thanks to some major contributions from Harris and junior forward Will Evans (Lexington, Ky./Christian Academy). Harris came off the bench to score 10 points and collect four rebounds. He had eight second-half points. Evans had four points and a team-high 10 rebounds. In the last five games, Evans has averaged 9.2 rpg. On the year, he's averaging 6.0 rpg.
"David Harris did a great job, he had a layup that tied it with 53 seconds to go," said Ellenwood. "He was the reason we were in that game today. Will got some big rebounds at the end."
Hillsdale out-rebounded the Eagles, 37-33 but the second chance points were nearly even – HC led, 9-8. Points in the paint were equal – 24-24. AU had 12 offensive rebounds, compared to eight for the Chargers.
One major difference in this game was Hillsdale's ability to get to the free throw line. The Chargers were 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) at the line and Ashland was 4-of-7 (57.1 percent). Hillsdale was 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) at the free throw line in the second half.
This was Hillsdale's 10th consecutive win over the Eagles. The last three games in this series have been exceptionally close. Last year, the teams played three times and the last two games went to overtime. The final game in 2011-12 came in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament.
"We've got to do a better job of finishing against good teams like Hillsdale," noted Ellenwood. "The one thing I was proud of today, they shot 40 percent and I think that's the first time we've held them to 40 percent."
AU returns to action this coming Thursday (Jan. 24, 5:30 p.m.) at Ohio Dominican.
AU
MBB/ALK
