BUSY EAGLES: The Ashland University men's basketball team will continue its five-game road trip with a three-game week as the Eagles head to Wayne State on Tuesday before a trip to Davenport for games on Friday and Saturday. After the Davenport games, Ashland will have just two true road games remaining in the regular season (at Purdue Northwest, Feb. 12-13). Ashland, riding a three-game winning streak, is playing an NBA-like five games in nine days during this congested portion of the schedule.
HALFWAY POINT: Just as remarkable is that the Eagles will have reached the halfway mark of the 18-game conference season after this week. Ashland and the entire GLIAC have been fortunate to have avoided COVID-19 related breaks in the schedule to this point, and the hope is that continues for all teams down the stretch.
LAST LOOK AT LAST WEEK: The Eagles went down to the wire twice at Saginaw Valley last week, and twice came out with road wins. Redshirt-senior wing Aaron Thompson's tip-in at the buzzer sent Friday's game into overtime where the Eagles never trailed to beat the Cardinals, 71-67. In Saturday's game, SVSU overcame a 13-point deficit to take a four-point lead with just under seven minutes to play, but the Eagles rallied down the stretch and win a free throw battle at the end to win, 58-57.
A LONG TIME COMING: The Eagles had gone nearly 13 years without a win in University Center, Mich. before picking up two victories in two days at James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena. Their last win at SVSU came Feb. 9, 2008.
RAINING THREES: In Friday's win over Saginaw Valley, the Eagles shot 8-for-26 (31 percent) from 2-point range and went 7-for-15 from the free throw line. They were also out-rebounded by a 45-38 count. The difference came from behind the 3-point line where Ashland shot 16-for-36 (44 percent). It was the most threes for the Eagles since they also hit 16 on Nov. 19, 2019 against Ohio Chillicothe. Ashland hit 11 of them in the first half and got one each from freshmen Hunter Shedenhelm and Paul Burris in the overtime to help provide the difference.
FAB FROSH: Shedenhelm has already shown his ability to shoot from long range in his brief collegiate career and that was no more evident than Friday when he went 6-for-9 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 23 points in 43 minutes. Shedenhelm is shooting 47 percent (18-for-38) from 3-point range on the season and is third on the team in scoring (10.7).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE AVERAGE: Thompson put together quite a weekend at Saginaw, averaging 12.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. He posted an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double on Friday and had a career-high five steals on the defensive end. On the final possession of regulation on Friday, he tipped in a missed runner by Brandon Haraway, overtaking two Saginaw players just before the buzzer to tie the game at 60. It was Thompson's first double-double of the season and the 18th of his career.
THE 700 CLUB: In Friday's game, Thompson also became the sixth player in program history to reach 700 career rebounds. He now has 715 rebounds in 96 career games (7.4 per game) and is sitting on 909 points.
LOCKED IN: The Eagles showed off their reputable defensive prowess last week, holding the Cardinals to 36 percent shooting overall, including a 22 percent (11-for-50) mark from 3-point range.
DOUBLE FIGURES FOR BO: While senior guard Bo Furcron had his season-starting streak of double figure scoring games stopped on Friday, he did manage to pull in a career-high 10 rebounds in the winning effort. Furcron followed it up by tying Thompson for the team high of 14 points and five boards in Saturday's victory.
SERIES VS. WARRIORS: The Eagles are 28-32 all-time in the series with their longtime GLIAC foes from Detroit. Ashland has won three of the last four meetings, including the last two at the Mattaei Center. The Eagles have also won 9 of the last 12 contests dating back to 2013. This is Ashland's final season in the GLIAC and will move to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2021-22.
SERIES VS. PANTHERS: The Eagles and Panthers are even at 3-3 in their all-time series which started in the 2017-18 season when Davenport made the jump to the GLIAC and Division II from the NAIA ranks. Each road team has won the last four meetings, including a split last year. AU won 66-56 last Feb. 6 while in the midst of an eight-game winning streak.
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