Box Score There are moments in basketball that define games and seasons.
For the 21st-ranked Ashland University men's basketball team on Thursday (Jan. 7) night at home against Northern Michigan, there were enough of those to go around.
Trailing 54-45 with 9:25 left in regulation, the Eagles rallied to force overtime, where AU came away with an 81-75 victory over the Wildcats at Kates Gymnasium. Ashland, which leads the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division by a game over Findlay, is 11-2 overall and 5-2 in the GLIAC.
"I thought they played the better game," said Ashland head coach John Ellenwood. "They probably, for about 39 minutes, deserved that game. We found a way to stick it out. We never quit, and I'm proud of our guys for that.
"I always say there's that game that you can look back, and this might be that game, where we said, 'Hey, we were fortunate, we learned our lesson and we found a way to get it going again.' I hope that happens."
Northern Michigan is 4-7, 2-5.
Just outside of seven minutes left in regulation, sophomore forward Marsalis Hamilton grabbed two offensive rebounds and put in a layup to cut the Eagle deficit to 56-53. Then, trailing 68-66 with 19 ticks left in the second half, Hamilton grabbed another offensive board and stuck the put-back to tie the game.
In the extra period, Hamilton found junior forward Wendell Davis for the 3-point field goal which gave AU a lead it would not relinquish.
Davis posted game-highs in points (27) and rebounds (13) for his 14th career double-double, and added three assists while going 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.
"That was a tough game," Davis said. "In the second half, we pulled through. There were a lot of bounces that went our way. It's a game that you kind of have to have. To pull through shows a lot about our team."
Hamilton had 17 points and 11 boards while leading the team with five assists.
"I thought Marsalis was the one that just refused to lose for us," Ellenwood said. "He's a winner, and I'm glad he's on our team."
Said Hamilton, "I know our guys have a lot of fight. This team is something special."
Junior guard Adrian Cook added 12 points in the victory.
Ashland scored 21 points off 18 Wildcat turnovers.
The Eagles will continue their three-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 9) at 3 p.m. against Michigan Tech (5-6, 4-3). It will be Senior Citizens Day at Kates Gymnasium.
EAGLE NUGGETS: Davis now has 1,060 career points, passing Kevin Wilson (1,037) and tying Jack Purtell for 22nd on AU's all-time scoring list…Ashland is 14-9 (.609) all-time against Northern Michigan…The Eagles are 18-4 (.818) in their last 22 games at Kates Gymnasium, and those four losses have been by nine, one, two and two points...Freshman guard Nick Bapst was 3-for-4 on 3-point field goals, and in his last nine games, is 19-for-34 (55.9 percent) from downtown.
Overtime Highlights
AU
MBKB/DS
