Box Score The Ashland University men's basketball team turned up its offense in the second half and got monster performances from three players as the Eagles earned an 80-71 win over Northwood on Thursday (Jan. 23) night at Kates Gymnasium.
It was the Eagles' first GLIAC home win of the season as they look to climb into GLIAC Tournament contention.
The combination of senior center Drew Noble, junior forward Derek Koch and freshman guard Brandon Haraway combined for 48 of Ashland's 51 points in the second half.
Noble had 21 of his 25 in the second half and Koch scored 13 straight points for the Eagles early in the period to help them stretch a 36-33 lead to a 49-40 advantage that didn't go under seven points the rest of the way.
"I was just moving around trying to find open space," Koch said. "I knew I was quicker than their bigs so I was able to use that to my advantage."
Haraway filled in the rest with all 12 of his points coming after halftime.
The Eagles (9-9, 2-8 GLIAC) shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and went 24-for-30 (80 percent) from the line in the game.
"It opens everything up," Noble said of Koch's standout performance. "They were trying to double off and leaving Derek open and he made them pay time and time again. That takes our offense to the next level."
Noble, who was bruised and battered by the end of the game and battled through a bloody nose all night, finished 9-for-10 from the field.
"Derek having the game that he did took some pressure off the guy that was guarding me," Noble said. "It opened things up and I got easy shots. The credit goes to my teammates.
The first half featured seven lead changes and four tie scores with the teams combining to shoot just 30 percent. It opened up in the second half with them combining to shoot 59 percent.
Koch matched a career high with 22 point to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He shot 8-for-15 from the field and hit three 3-pointers.
"He went inside and out," said AU head coach John Ellenwood. "He made some post moves tonight, hit some threes, went off the dribble. That's a nightmare for teams on film. It opens up Drew a lot. All of a sudden, it's 'we can't help off Derek Koch as much.' Brandon Haraway hit a three and they can't help off him. It's huge for our team to have that balance."
Senior guard Rodrick Caldwell struggled shooting the ball, but had a strong floor game with eight points, six rebounds and four assists. Redshirt-junior wing Aaron Thompson had a game-high nine rebounds and six points.
"We've been on top of this league for a long time, one of the top teams to beat," Ellenwood said. "This year, for some reason, we haven't played our best basketball. We have a lot of basketball left and we want to click on all cylinders. We're playing better basketball. I'm proud of them for weathering the storm and hopefully we can carry it to Saturday."
Trey McBride led Northwood (8-10, 3-7 GLIAC) with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Eagles will welcome Saginaw Valley on Saturday (Jan. 25) at 3 p.m. at Kates Gymnasium as they will celebrate 100 seasons of men's basketball by bringing back a large group of alumni to toast the occasion
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