Box Score At this point in the season, AU head coach John Ellenwood is concerned only with the bottom line. However, the stat sheet he saw on Thursday night (Feb. 21) at Kates Gymnasium was anything but a balanced budget.
"Good and bad all over that thing," remarked Ellenwood.
In the end, it was more positive than negative for the Eagles, who outlasted Ohio Dominican, 84-71. The Eagles are 11-12, 9-11 in GLIAC play. The Eagles have won six of their last seven games.
A loss here would have not only broken the bank, it would have dented AU's hopes for a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. Ashland is in the thick of the race for one of the last spots in the eight-team field.
The final score doesn't indicate how hard the Eagles had to work to finally get this game under control. Ohio Dominican (4-21/1-19) terrorized the Eagles on the glass. The Panthers out-rebounded the Eagles, 44-34 and thanks to 21 offensive boards, ran up an unsightly 24-6 spread in second chance points.
"That's what they do," acknowledged Ellenwood. "Ohio Dominican has some long players who know how to rebound. That kept them in the game."
ODU's Trent Weaver had 16 points and 11 rebounds and center Bobby Stauffer had 10 rebounds. Guard Morgan Jones, one of the most lethal scorers in the league, had 18 points. He had four three-pointers and many of those came after passes from the post. How were those set up? That's easy, multiple opportunities.
Where this game finally started to turn in AU's favor came just after the first media timeout in the second half. With 14:56 left in regulation, the teams were tied, 41-41. Over the next, 3:39, the Eagles outscored the Panthers, 14-5 and grabbed a 55-46 lead with 11:17 to go. Jones momentarily stopped the bleeding with a triple, but AU answered with a layup by senior forward Evan Yates (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) and a three by sophomore guard Brook Turson (Plymouth, Ohio/Columbus State) to take a 60-49 lead with 9:47 to play.
After that, ODU got no closer than nine points.
"We just got stops," replied Ellenwood, when asked about how the game changed at that point. "Once you get a couple of stops and some easy baskets in transition, that's great."
It didn't hurt that junior forward Will Evans (Lexington, Ky./Christian Academy) started to make his presence felt on the glass. Evans finished with seven points, nine rebounds and four assists. He had six points and three rebounds in the second half.
"Will Evans did a great job rebounding in the second half," noted Ellenwood. "That kind of set the tone."
Yates had a huge game with 30 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. He had 17 points in the second half. In the first half he had 13 of AU's 30 points. The Eagles were behind at halftime, 31-30.
"It was one of those nights where going into the game I said, 'We need to get Evan going early," said Ellenwood. "I thought he had pretty balanced halves."
Ellenwood couldn't stop talking about the five assists Yates accumulated. Like most teams, the Panthers sent hordes of players after Yates to slow him down. The senior got to the free throw line 11 times. He was 12-of-15 from the field. He led the Eagles in assists. As a team, AU had a season-high 21 assists. Their previous high of 17 came in the opener against Oberlin.
"We had 21 assists, we're moving the ball a lot better," offered Ellenwood.
As Ellenwood pointed out, the way Yates passed the ball helped his teammates get good looks. Turson benefitted from that – he had 16 points, 10 in the second half. Turson was 3-of-4 from three-point range. Sophomore guard-forward Paul Honigford (Sugarcreek, Ohio/Garaway) had 14 points, eight after halftime. He was 5-of-8 from the field, 3-of-5 on three-point attempts.
This was AU's final regular season home game and it was Senior Night. AU closes the year with a 10-3 home record. The Eagles close out the regular season with a pair of road games. The first of those games comes Saturday (Feb. 23, 1 p.m.) at Tiffin.
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