COLUMBUS, Ohio – Playing in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference for the first time on Thursday (Dec. 2) night, Ashland University's men's basketball team pulled away at the end of the first half and didn't look back, topping Ohio Dominican, 77-54.
The Eagles are 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Great Midwest, while the Panthers are 1-6, 0-1.
"I was proud of our effort," said Ashland head coach
John Ellenwood. "We're getting used to our lineups and getting used to how we need to play, and the intensity in which we have to play.
"Overall, it was a good game."
Ashland has won 12 of its last 13 meetings with ODU.
WHAT HAPPENED
- The Eagles ran out to a 9-0 lead, but the Panthers countered with eight in a row of their own. The back-and-forth continued, and with 9:23 to go until halftime, the score was knotted at 20-20.
- At that point, Ashland fashioned another run, this one 10-0 over a six-minute period. Then, a 16-2 run to end the half helped the Eagles to move out to a 46-24 halftime advantage, as junior guard Ethan Conley led the charge with 18 points, all on a career-high six 3-pointers, in just nine minutes.
- In the first 20 minutes, Ashland shot 60.0 percent from the field and 8-of-18 from behind the arc, while the Panthers made just 33.3 percent from the floor. AU also had a decided 24-7 rebounding advantage.
- The Eagles kept the Panthers at more than arm's length throughout the second half, with their biggest lead being 31 points at 71-40.
- Conley ended with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from downtown.
- "It felt really good. It's a team effort. I'm just doing my job," Conley said. "I like coming off the bench, just to see how I can impact the game."
- "He was great, and I'm very proud of him," Ellenwood said.
- Junior guard Brandon Haraway chipped in with 10 points, while senior forward Aaron Thompson, in his program-record-tying 119th game, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go past 900 for his Eagle career.
- "What can you say that hasn't been said about Aaron Thompson? He's a warrior," Ellenwood said.
- Said Thompson, "It's super special. Coming in here, you don't think about the accolades and the records that you might be able to set. You just think about coming in and playing basketball. God's blessed with me so many years to play basketball."
- Defensively, AU kept ODU to 32.7 percent from the field. On the other end of the floor, the Eagles shot 48.3 percent from the floor, made 11 from downtown and were 10-of-14 from the free-throw line.
UP NEXT
Ashland's men will go back on the road for another Great Midwest contest on Saturday (Dec. 4) at 4:15 p.m. at Cedarville (3-3, 1-0).
AU
MBKB/DS
