Eagles Season Ends With Defeat In NCAA Tournament

The Ashland University men's basketball team saw its dream postseason come to an end on Sunday (March 14) night as the Eagles lost to Truman State, 82-63, in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament semifinal at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
 
The Eagles (15-9) had won their previous six games coming into the contest, including three straight in the GLIAC Tournament to win the championship and a win over Wayne State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
On Sunday against the top-seeded Bulldogs, the Eagles were never able to capture the lead despite keeping pace with Truman only until the final minutes.
 
After the Bulldogs built a 12-point first half lead, the Eagles fought their way back into it with sophomore guard Brandon Haraway sinking a 3-pointer with 3:17 left in the half to make it a 34-31 game.
 
The Bulldogs (19-2), though, closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 42-31 lead into halftime. They shot 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the first half and finished the game shooting 60 percent from deep.
 
After the break, the Eagles narrowed their deficit down to six with an 8-0 run spurred by four points by senior forward Derek Koch and capped by Haraway's long rebound and transition layup.
 
The Eagles again got four straight points from Koch a few minutes later and had the deficit down to 49-45, then after a Truman basket, a three-point play by senior wing Aaron Thompson cut it to 51-48 with 13 minutes left.

GLVC Player of the Year Cade McKnight answered with a 3-pointer, but Koch responded with his own and then another basket to make it 56-53.
 
That was as close as the Eagles could make it as the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run over the next two-plus minutes to push their lead back to 66-53 with just under nine minutes left.
 
Thompson led the Eagles with 20 points and seven rebounds while Koch was excellent with 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Haraway added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Turner Scott led five Truman scorers in double figures with 19 points. Masen Miller had 18 points as the pair combined to hit 10 3-pointers.