Box Score Ashland University senior guard Cole Krizancic never had hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer before Thursday (Dec. 4) night.
Eagle men's basketball head coach John Ellenwood is grateful he picked the end of the fourth overtime against Grand Valley State at Kates Gymnasium to do just that, as Krizancic's 3-pointer in the corner as time expired following 60 minutes of play lifted Ashland to a 93-92 win over the Lakers.
"I'm so proud of him," Ellenwood said of Krizancic. "Cole hasn't had the easiest road here. To hit that shot, I'm very proud of him. He's just a winner, and that's why he's in an Eagle uniform."
"The play basically was Wendell (Davis) to get up the floor, and Boo (Osborne) and I were in the corners," Krizancic said. "It's definitely huge. The 5-0 (start) is nice, but when we get into conference, that's when it matters."
Ashland now is 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. This is the Eagles' best start since 2002-03 (8-0), and the victory snapped a three-game losing streak against the Lakers, a six-game GLIAC openers losing skid and a four-game GLIAC home openers losing skein.
The team's seven straight victories going back to the end of 2013-14 is one short of the program's best mark since it joined the GLIAC in 1995.
"From day one, when our guys got back to school, we talked about changing our identity," Ellenwood said. "Our guys have bought into who we are right now."
Grand Valley is 3-3, 0-1.
The March Madness-type action began with a minute left in regulation, when Ashland was ahead 62-55. The Lakers kept pecking away at their deficit, and Darren Kapustka's 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left tied the game at 64 and sent it to overtime.
"We didn't make free throws, we turned the ball over and with 11 seconds left, I was trying to decide whether to foul or not," said Ellenwood of that final minute of regulation.
The first overtime period saw Davis make a layup with 1:09 to go, which ultimately forced the second OT. That period turned into a third extra five minutes after GVSU's Trevin Alexander made both free throws with 5.3 ticks left.
In the third overtime, Osborne split a pair of free throws with 33.2 seconds left, leaving both teams to head to overtime No. 4, setting up Krizancic's heroics.
"It was crazy," Krizancic said. "We thought it could be over any one of those times."
Six Eagles scored in double figures, paced by Davis' 19. Senior forward Paul Honigford scored 16, Osborne and senior guard DaWuan Thomas each had 14, senior guard Brook Turson added a dozen and sophomore guard Adrian Cook added 10.
The two teams combined for 138 shots from the field, 62 3-point attempts, 102 free throws, 105 rebounds and 75 personal fouls.
Ashland will continue home GLIAC play Saturday (Dec. 6) afternoon at 3 against Ferris State.
NOTES: This was Ashland's first four-overtime game since 1993, a 92-90 loss against St. Joseph's…The Eagles were the Division II national leader in scoring defense (53.6 ppg.) coming into Thursday night…Ashland now has at least 34 rebounds in nine straight games going back to the end of 2013-14, the program's longest streak since 2006-07 (12 games).
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