Box Score TIFFIN, Ohio – They wouldn't have wanted it any other way…maybe.
Yet another game for Ashland University's men's basketball team went down to the wire on Saturday (Feb. 20) afternoon, but the 18th-ranked Eagles clinched at least a share of their second straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division title with a 79-76 win at Tiffin.
Ashland improves to 23-4 overall and 17-4 in the conference with its 10th win in a row, and can clinch the South outright for the first time in program history with a win on Thursday (Feb. 25) on Senior Day against Lake Erie (10-17, 7-14) at Kates Gymnasium.
"That's obviously one of our goals, to get back to this position where we were last year, where we had a chance to win it outright," said Ashland head coach John Ellenwood. "I'm very proud of them for at least getting a share of this right now, and that's a huge accomplishment."
Coach Ellenwood Comments
The Eagles' 23 wins are tied for the fifth most in program history (three off of the program record), and their 11th road/neutral-site win of 2015-16 is the most in program history. Ashland has won five games by five points or less in 2015-16.
"I attribute it to our work ethic," Ellenwood said. "We have tough guys. Coaches are only as a good as their players, and I've got tremendous players."
The Dragons are 11-17, 7-14.
Junior point guard Adrian Cook scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, and added four assists and two steals.
"Adrian is an outstanding player for us. He makes the big shots when you need them, and he did that tonight over and over again," Ellenwood said. "He's earned everything that he's accomplished here at Ashland University."
"That (the South title) was our first goal, and we got it done. That's two years in a row, too," Cook said. "It felt great. I would prefer a blowout, but we're used to it. We're well-prepared in close games."
Junior guard Boo Osborne scored 17 points, including four 3-point field goals, junior forward Wendell Davis added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds and sophomore center Teddy Metzen came off the bench for 10 points in 14 minutes.
Ashland shot 57.4 percent from the field and 76.0 percent from the free-throw line, and kept the Dragons to 40.7 percent from the floor.
Ashland trailed early 9-8 before Tiffin went on a 10-1 run. The Eagles put up six straight points to cut their deficit to 19-15, then they cut it to 31-30 in the final minute of the first half.
AU's run was stopped, but it trailed at halftime by just two at 34-32 on a Davis layup at the buzzer. The Eagles shot 50 percent from the field to the Dragons' 37.5 in the first 20 minutes, but TU's 21-15 rebounding advantage, including nine offensive boards, was the difference.
At the 17:52 mark of the second half, a Cook jumper gave Ashland a 37-36 lead. Then, a Davis driving layup put the Eagles ahead again at 40-38. After no tie scores and no lead changes in the first half, there were three ties and six lead changes in the first 5:20 of the second half.
Cook's three free throws gave AU a 45-43 advantage for the seventh lead change of the second half, then a slam dunk by freshman forward Phil Frentsos finished a 10-1 run which gave Ashland a 52-44 lead.
Tiffin, however, made a run of its own, and cut its deficit to 55-53, with 10:07 left in regulation. The Dragons then took a 60-59 lead on a triple at the 7:48 mark before Cook answered with a jump shot in the lane.
Ashland and Tiffin continued to trade shots and the lead, and the game was tied at 62 until senior center Michael Hundley hit two free throws with 6:17 remaining in regulation. The Eagles never relinquished the lead, but that doesn't mean the rest of the game was easy – AU had a 74-68 lead inside of the two-minute mark, but the win wasn't iced until a Cook steal with 12 ticks left on the clock, two Cook free throws with 11.4 seconds to go and a missed 3 by the Dragons.
THE NOTEBOOK: Ashland's 42 wins in consecutive seasons are the most for the program since 47 in 1990-91/1991-92…Davis has 1,274 career points, 53 behind Chris Keshock for 13th place in program history.
The Eagles Final Defensive Stand
AU
MBKB/DS
