Eagle Men Move Into First Place In Great Midwest Following OT Win

The most successful men's basketball team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference since the new year began now is in first place in the conference standings.
 
On Saturday (Feb. 12) afternoon at Kentucky Wesleyan, Ashland University recorded a 75-71 overtime win over the Panthers. The Eagles are 16-7 overall and 12-4 in the Great Midwest after their 10^th victory in the last 12 outings, and are a half-game ahead of both Walsh and Malone in the league standings.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan is 12-14, 7-11.
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Ashland led 9-3 in the early going, and 18-11 with 8½ minutes left in the first half. The Panthers then went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-18 lead.
• At halftime, the Eagles had a 28-25 lead, and the defense stood out – keeping Kentucky Wesleyan to 29.6 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
• Another AU first-half highlight was senior forward Aaron Thompson, who posted 11 points and five rebounds.
• Ashland pulled ahead 36-28 early in the second half, but the Panthers went on another run – this one 11-0 to go up 39-36 and force an Eagle timeout.
• Trailing 43-42 with 13 minutes to play, the Eagles scored the next six points, and the close play continued. Ashland began to pull away, leading 62-54 at the last media timeout.
• Once again, the Panthers went on a run – 8-0 this time to tie the game in the final minute. Both teams missed a final shot to force overtime.
• Thompson's old-fashioned 3-point play with less than two minutes to go in the extra period put the Eagles up 69-66. Junior forward Ethan Conley's trey in the final minute of OT iced the victory.

 
THE WRAP-UP

• Combined, junior guard Brandon Haraway (29 points) and Thompson (27) combined for 56 of AU's 75 points. Thompson added 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Haraway, who has scored 107 points in the last four games (26.8 ppg.), grabbed six boards and added three assists and three steals.
• The Eagles shot 48.4 percent from the field, while keeping the Panthers to 37.5 percent.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland returns to the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium for a Great Midwest first-place showdown with Walsh (16-6, 11-4) on Thursday (Feb. 17) at 7:30 p.m. Prior to that, the first set of NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings will be announced on Wednesday (Feb. 16) afternoon.