On Friday (Dec. 30) afternoon at Wayne State, Ashland University's men's basketball team increased its winning streak to five games thanks to another second-half comeback victory, 81-70.
The Eagles are 7-4 heading into the new year, and the Warriors are 4-6. Ashland has started with seven wins through the first 11 games for the second time in the last three seasons.
Ashland moves to 3-1 this season when trailing or tied at halftime, as the Eagles were down 41-34 at the break on Friday. During the winning streak, AU has trailed at some point in the second half in three of those games.
THE WRAP-UP
- Senior guard Brandon Haraway led all scorers on Friday with 24 points, going 8-of-13 from the floor and hitting all six free throws. In the process, he moved past Angelo Edwards for 17th on Ashland's all-time scoring list with 1,246 career points.
- Haraway added four rebounds and six assists, and drew 10 fouls, in the victory.
- Also reaching double figures in points in the victory were redshirt freshman forward Maceo Williams (15 points, 5-of-6 field goals) and fifth-year forward James Manns, who recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
- Entering the game 19th in NCAA Division II in field-goal percentage at 50.0, the Eagles did nothing to hurt that on Friday, hitting 58.0 percent from the field. AU also was 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.
- Defensively, Ashland kept the Warriors to 38.5 percent from the field in the second half, and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc for the game. The Eagles have stymied each of their last five opponents from the field, as each have made less than 40 percent overall and less than 34.3 percent from 3-point range in those contests.
- The Eagles also turned 18 turnovers into 22 points.
UP NEXT
Ashland will begin 2023 at home, as the Eagles will play host to Miami-Hamilton (9-7) on Monday (Jan. 2) at 6 p.m. at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
