On Thursday (Dec. 28) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, the No. RV Ashland University men's basketball team returned to action following the NCAA Division II "dead period" and recorded an 103-58 win over visiting Miami-Middletown.
The Eagles improve to 8-2 through 10 games after the first meeting between the two programs, while the ThunderHawks go to 1-12.
Ashland is 5-0 at home so far in 2023-24, and has won 26 of its last 32 games on campus. The Eagles' back-to-back 100-plus-point games are the first for the program since Nov. 22 and 25, 2003.
Middletown had leads of 5-4 and 7-6 early – and that turned out to be a temporary situation. Thanks to a 33-7 run to end the first half, the Eagles led 59-24 going into the locker room.
At the half, Ashland shot 74.2 percent from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, and had 14 assists on 23 made field goals. Redshirt freshman wing
Cooper Davis had 14 points in just 10 minutes off the bench, and sophomore point guard
Simon Wheeler dished out nine assists.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Four Eagles finished with double-digit points – Davis (17), sophomore forward Maceo Williams (14), senior center Victor Searls (14) and junior guard Trevell Adams (11).
- Davis has played 25 minutes in two games so far this season – and has scored 28 points.
- "He's doing a heck of a job, and he's only going to get better," Ashland head coach John Ellenwood said. "He's just coming back to full health – he's still not there. I'm sure glad he's wearing our uniform."
- Ashland shot 57.6 percent from the field, after coming into the game tied for fifth in NCAA Division II at 52.3 percent for the season. Searls, No. 3 in the nation in the category at 69.5 percent, finished at 6-for-7 from the field on Thursday night.
- The Eagles had 23 assists on 38 made field goals, with Wheeler ending with a dozen helpers.
- "It was nice to be able to get some easy points," said Ellenwood. "Simon Wheeler's a great player, and ever since he's showed up, we've had a great field-goal percentage."
- Ashland out-rebounded Middletown by a 44-21 count (19 offensive), and turned 24 ThunderHawk turnovers into 32 points.
- No Eagle played more than 19 minutes on Thursday night.
UP NEXT
A return to Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Saturday (Dec. 30) at 1 p.m. at home vs. Kentucky Wesleyan – co-leader atop the league standings.
"Saturday's going to be a heck of a contest for us," Ellenwood said. "I wanted to get a game in before we played a big-league opponent and knock some rust off, and that was accomplished tonight."
