It's not usual to play the same team twice in the same week.
For Ashland University's men's basketball team, it was a chance to earn some quick revenge, as its 86-68 win over Tiffin on Saturday (Feb. 5) at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium avenged a 100-97 overtime loss in Tiffin just three days earlier.
The Eagles are 14-7 overall and 10-4 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, while the Dragons are 8-13, 3-10. Ashland is 12-5 in its last 17 games following a 2-2 start to the 2021-22 season.
In the process of earning the victory on Saturday, two Eagles earned significant milestones. Senior forward
Aaron Thompson became just the second player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career rebounds, joining
Larry Aulger (1,188).
Following the game, head coach
John Ellenwood won career head-coaching game No. 250.
"Very proud of our guys. Very proud of
Aaron Thompson," Ellenwood said. "He's terrific. There's nothing left to be said about him. I thought they handled the challenge from the loss the other night. They had a bad taste in their mouth coming home the other night, and they responded.
"I am very blessed to be a basketball coach. The reason I'm blessed is not because of wins and losses or anything like that. It's simply because of the people that fight for me and my family every single day. I've had great coaches, and I've had great players."
In the Great Midwest standings after Saturday's play, the Eagles are a half-game out of first place, trailing both Malone and Walsh (10-3 in league play), and tied with Hillsdale.
WHAT HAPPENED
- The Dragons started with the lead, and that advantage was 20-11 when Ashland called a timeout with 12 minutes left in the first half. That was when the Eagles started to turn it on, scoring nine in a row to tie the game at 20.
- A driving layup from junior guard Brandon Haraway gave Ashland its first lead of the contest at 24-22, and the Eagles didn't stop there. Another Haraway basket, a triple, put the AU lead at 31-22 – and gave AU an 11-0 run.
- The run ended at 14-0 and with Ashland leading 34-21. And by halftime, that Eagle advantage was 45-29 – and the overall run going into the locker room was 34-9.
- In the first 20 minutes, the Eagles shot 60 percent from the field, and had an impressive 20-10 rebounding margin. Haraway (17) and Thompson (16) combined for 33 of AU's 45 first-half points.
- Thompson earned his 1,000th career rebound early in the second half, as the Eagles continued to extend their lead. After sophomore guard Tre Baumgardner made three free throws, AU led 59-36.
- Tiffin, however, wasn't about to give up. The Dragons, thanks to a 4-point play, worked their deficit down to 10 points at 74-64 with 3:28 to go, then to eight points at 74-66 inside of 2:30 to play. Back-to-back Thompson layups, however, put the game on ice.
THE WRAP-UP
- Thompson ended with 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals – and one big milestone.
- "It feels amazing," he said. "It's always a goal, it's always in the back of your mind. You really just go out and play hard every night."
- Haraway finished with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. He had 62 points in two games for the week.
- "A tough loss like that, us coming back, we know we're not going to lose that game," Haraway said. "It's starting to come back. I just want to be patient with my shot. I haven't been forcing it."
- "He had a great week scoring this week," Ellenwood said.
- Baumgardner had 13 points, and freshman guard Brock Waits had a career-high 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
- "We came home the other night, and I just said, 'Brock, you're going to get your chance.' And he did a really good job for us. He's tough. He hit some big shots for us. Tonight was his night."
- Saturday marked the third consecutive game Ashland has made at least 52.5 percent from the floor (52.5 on Saturday).
- "Hopefully, we can keep getting better at that," said Ellenwood. "If both ends of the floor start clicking for us, we're a tough team to beat."
UP NEXT
Ashland will go on the road for another Great Midwest game on Thursday (Feb. 10) at 8:30 p.m. at Trevecca Nazarene (5-17, 2-13).
AU
MBKB/DS
