The Ashland University men's basketball team turned in a dominant first half performance and all five starters scored in double figures as the Eagles rolled to a 78-60 win over visiting Lake Superior State on Friday (Feb. 26) night at Kates Gymnasium.
Before the game, it was announced that the GLIAC Tournament field would be shrunk to 10 teams with Davenport and Northern Michigan opting out of the remainder of the season due to COVID issues in both programs. That means the top six teams in the regular season get a bye into the quarterfinals in Hammond, Ind. with Seeds 7-10 needing to play their way in with a first-round game next Tuesday.
On Friday, the Lakers (8-9, 8-9 GLIAC) hit two 3-pointers to open the scoring, sophomore
Brandon Haraway and seniors
Bo Furcron and
Derek Koch hit three straight triples to give the Eagles a 9-6 lead with 17:46 left in the first half.
That spurt kickstarted a 38-6 run over 12-plus minutes that put the Eagles (10-8, 10-7 GLIAC) firmly in command, 38-12, after another 3-pointer by freshman
Hunter Shedenhelm.
"When we have bad games, we rely on too few players," said head coach
John Ellenwood. "The ball gets really stagnant. When you share the ball and move it productively and fast, everything clicks together. Guys really have fun playing the game of basketball. It's a fun game when five guys flow together. That's what we had today."
In that run, the Eagles went 15-for-19 from the field, including 8-for-10 from 3-point range with Koch leading the way with 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Eagles held the Lakers to just 2-for-18 shooting and seven turnovers.
"It gives us a bunch of energy seeing how little they're scoring," Koch said. "It makes us want to do even better the next 10 minutes."
Ashland had a 44-26 lead at halftime then built it as high as 27 in the second half as the hosts were able to cruise to the win.
"Recently we've been focusing on our defense and our energy and that fuels our offense when we can get out in transition," said senior wing
Aaron Thompson, who had a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. "We get stops, that energizes us on the court and energizes the whole team."
The win saw the Eagles get back to their hot shooting after going cold over the last four games. The Eagles were 12-for-28 (43 percent) from long distance and shoot 48 percent (27-for-56) overall while holding LSSU to just 36 percent shooting.
Haraway led the way with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Furcron added 15 points and Koch finished with 13. Shedenhelm chipped in 11 points.
Malek Adams was the only LSSU player in double figures with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting.
"We know what's on the line, we just want to come out and play every game like it's our last," Thompson said. "We know two other teams got shut down. It could happen to anybody. We just want to come out and play like it's our last and play as hard as we can."
The Eagles and Lakers will play again on Saturday (Feb. 27) at 2 p.m. at Kates Gymnasium in the regular season finale.
AU
MBB/BB
