The Ashland University men's basketball team saw a late lead slip away as GLIAC-leading Wayne State kept the Eagles off the board for the last three minutes to pull out a 64-60 win at Kates Gymnasium on Tuesday (Feb. 16) evening.
Redshirt-senior wing
Aaron Thompson scored his 1,000
th career point with a free throw in the second half becoming the 29
th player in program history to reach that mark. He also took over sole possession of third place on the Eagles' all-time rebounding list with 778.
Tuesday's game between teams separated by a half-game in the GLIAC standings coming into the day had 10 lead changes and eight tie scores as the teams traded blows throughout.
The largest lead in the game came with six minutes left in the second half as sophomore guard
Brandon Haraway pushed the Eagles' advantage to 54-45 on a mid-range jumper.
It was still an eight-point lead with four minutes to play and Haraway's bucket with 3:05 left gave AU a 60-54 margin.
Darian Owens-White countered by hitting a pair of corner threes on Wayne State's next two trips to tie the game at 60 with just over two minutes left.
The Eagles, though, were held to 0-for-4 shooting with a turnover on their last five possessions as Wayne State scored the last 10 points of the game, including Avery Lewis's game-clinching putback with six seconds left.
Haraway led the Eagles with a game-high 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Thompson joined him in double figures with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The Eagles shot 47 percent (22-for-47) from the field, including a 42 percent (8-for-19) from 3-point range. They were 8-for-16 from the free throw line.
Owens-White led the Warriors with 16 points on 4-for-13 shooting and Brailen Neely added 13 points. Ashland held the visitors too just 40 percent shooting, but Wayne State held a 13-7 advantage in second chance points and led on the glass, 35-30.
The Eagles will look to bounce back on Friday at 1 p.m. when they start a two-game set against Northwood at Kates Gymnasium.
AU
MBB/BB
