This season, Ashland University's men's basketball team has opponents right where it wants them when it isn't leading at halftime.
On Saturday (Jan. 7) afternoon at Northwood, the Eagles improved to 5-1 this season when trailing or tied at the half, rallying from down one point at the break and taking a 73-59 decision from the Timberwolves.
Ashland's eighth consecutive victory, its longest since an eight-gamer from Jan. 23-Feb. 15, 2020, puts the Eagles at 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. AU is alone in second place in the league, just a half-game behind Hillsdale and tied with the Chargers in the loss column.
Northwood is 1-15, 1-7 after its ninth straight loss.
Freshman point guard
Simon Wheeler turned in another big assist game, dishing out 13 on Saturday. Wheeler had a career-high 14 helpers on Monday (Jan. 2) against Miami-Hamilton at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, and in three games this week, he collected 30 assists.
WHAT HAPPENED
- Senior guard Brandon Haraway scored five quick points as Ashland went ahead 7-5, and Wheeler dished out four assists as the Eagles led 12-7 at the first media timeout.
- Out of that timeout, however, the Timberwolves scored the game's next 16 points to take a 23-12 lead. Trailing 26-14, Ashland started to creep back into the game, and thanks to Haraway's 16 points in the first 15 minutes, the gap was narrowed to 28-25.
- At halftime, Haraway had 20 points, and his layup at the buzzer drew the Eagles to within a point of the T'Wolves at 32-31. It is his fifth 20-plus-point game of 2022-23, and he had another 20 minutes to go.
- As has been the case nearly all season, Ashland set the tone to start the second half, scoring the first eight points out of the break to go up 39-32. By the time Northwood called timeout inside of the 17-minute mark, the Eagles had a 13-3 advantage so far in the second half – and a 44-35 leadoverall on the scoreboard.
- Ashland continued to pull away, taking a 53-39 lead as Wheeler moved up to 11 assists in the game. The Eagles kept the Timberwolves at bay the rest of the way for the victory.
THE WRAP-UP
- Haraway ended with 20 points, and junior center Victor Searls (14 points, eight rebounds), redshirt freshman forward Maceo Williams (13 points, all in the second half) and fifth-year forward James Manns (10 points) joined him in double-digit scoring.
- The Eagles made 50.9 percent from the field, and had 17 assists on 28 made baskets. It is the fourth time in the last five outings that Ashland made at least half of its shots.
- Ashland is 24-13 all-time vs. Northwood.
- The Eagles have won at least 10 games every season since 1994-95.
UP NEXT
Ashland will play another Great Midwest road game on Thursday (Jan. 12) at 7:30 p.m. against Lake Erie.
