Box Score Now, the waiting begins.
Ashland University's men's basketball team, ranked No. 10 in Division II and playing host to its first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Final Four, lost on Saturday (March 5) to Ferris State, 67-52. The Eagles (25-5) will have to wait until 10:30 p.m. on Sunday (March 6) to find out if they will make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years.
"I thought the two teams played hard," said Ashland head coach John Ellenwood. "I thought Ferris executed a little better in the second half than we did. It was a good GLIAC game.
"I thought our guys, for the most part, did the job defensively."
The Bulldogs (21-9) advance to the GLIAC Tournament championship game on Sunday at 4 p.m. against Walsh (16-12).
Ashland's loss snapped its 12-game winning streak, its longest since a 15-gamer in 1990-91.
Junior point guard Adrian Cook paced the Eagles with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, and added three assists and three steals.
Sophomore forward Wendell Davis fell a point and a rebound short of a double-double (nine points, nine boards), and added two steals and two helpers.
"They came out and played very hard," Davis said. "Ferris State is a great team. We weren't able to make some shots and make some of the easy buckets that we usually make."
Ashland's failing came in a 36.5-percent effort from the field, and the Bulldogs' 42-29 rebounding advantage.
Following an early 9-9 tie, Ashland took a 15-10 lead – only to see that turn into an 18-16 Ferris State advantage. The score was tied at 22 before the Eagles ripped off seven straight points. The Bulldogs, however, worked it down to a 31-28 halftime advantage.
Ashland's last lead was 34-33 with 18:52 left in the game. Ferris State went on a 15-4 run to take a 10-point lead, and didn't look back.
As for perhaps moving on to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in a quarter-century, Ellenwood said, "It's disappointing right now, but if there is a game to lose, I'd rather lose this one than the next one. We are anticipating that. We're a tough team to beat, and our defense is what's going to win us some games in this tournament, and hopefully, get to that next Elite Eight level.
"We have to take care of the ball a little bit better. Offensively, we have to click a little bit better. But I'm really excited for this program, and the direction it's going. I'm excited to coach these guys. They have a ton of heart, and they play hard for us and play hard for Ashland."
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