Box Score FINDLAY, Ohio – Old gym or new gym, Ashland University's men's basketball team continues to find the sledding tough at Croy Gymnasium.
The No. 23-ranked Eagles lost at the Oilers on Thursday (Jan. 21) night, 71-63. AU is 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, tied for second place in the South Division with Walsh and one game behind first-place Findlay (11-5, 8-3).
Ashland has lost 16 consecutive games at Findlay, and hasn't won in recently-renovated Croy Gymnasium since Jan. 19, 2002.
"It's a tough place to play," said Ashland head coach John Ellenwood. "They did a great job of rebounding (39-34 UF advantage). Second-chance points were going to be the difference in this game. We didn't take care of the ball real well, and they capitalized on that."
Junior guard Adrian Cook led the Eagle offense with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while adding a career-high-tying eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.
"I thought Adrian did an outstanding job, just driving to the basket and creating for others," Ellenwood said. "He played some hard minutes for us. He's got to keep doing that, and we expect great things out of him."
Junior forward Wendell Davis added 14 points and six boards. He now has 1,123 career points, one behind Randy Emmons for 19th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
The Oilers ran out to an early 11-3 lead, but the Eagles worked it down to 18-15 with 7:31 left in the first half and 23-20 with 5:37 to go until the break. Findlay kept Ashland at arm's length through the remainder of the first half, and took a 34-26 advantage into the locker room.
The Eagles began to make their move in the second half, cutting their deficit to three points at 47-44 with 12:48 left in regulation. An old-fashioned 3-point play by sophomore center Teddy Metzen made it a 49-47 Oilers lead with just outside of 12 minutes to go.
Findlay, however, ran off seven straight points on a jumper, a dunk and a trey to extend its lead to 56-47. The back-and-forth nature of the game continued, with Ashland trailing 60-56 with 7:20 to play, but the Oilers then going on a 7-2 run and not looking back.
"It seems like it was a game of runs," Ellenwood said. "Sometimes, we take a breath when we finally get back. On the road, it's even tougher. I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding way to scrap back in and never quit."
Ashland will finish its three-game GLIAC roadtrip on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 3 p.m. at Wayne State.
Coach Ellenwood Post-Game
AU
MBKB/DS
