In the continued quest for at worst a first-round 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament home quarterfinal game, and at best a 2023 Great Midwest regular-season title, Ashland University's men's basketball team earned a league road win against Ohio Dominican on Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon, 83-64.
The Eagles are 16-8 overall and 12-4 in the conference, and the Panthers are 8-15, 4-12. Ashland is 14-4 in its last 18 games after a 2-4 start, and remains 1½ games behind first-place Hillsdale and a half-game behind second-place Walsh in the Great Midwest.
Ashland shot 53.2 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from 3-point range, and had 18 assists to six turnovers. The top Eagle offensive catalyst was freshman point guard
Simon Wheeler, who scored a career-high 26 points (9-of-12 from the field, 4-of-4 from 3-point range, 4-of-5 from the free-throw line) and added six assists and six rebounds.
Saturday marked the seventh consecutive game Wheeler had at least six assists, with a total of 55 in those contests.
WHAT HAPPENED
- Both teams came out firing early on, and Ashland led 12-9 after the first four minutes. After being tied at 16, back-to-back 3-point field goals from senior guard Brandon Haraway lifted the Eagles to a 22-16 advantage – resulting in an ODU timeout.
- Ashland and Ohio Dominican alternated baskets for more than eight minutes, but the Eagles finished the first half on an 8-0 spurt to go into the locker room leading 49-36.
- Wheeler scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-4 from behind the arc, and Haraway added 11 points, as Ashland made 61.3 percent overall and 9-of-13 from downtown in the first 20 minutes. The Eagles had 10 assists on 19 made baskets.
- Wheeler continued to make his presence known, scoring or assisting on the first 13 points of the second half, as Ashland led 62-40 going into the under-16 media timeout. The Eagles took their largest lead to that point at 69-44, and the Panthers didn't get any closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
THE WRAP-UP
- In addition to Wheeler, both Haraway (13 points, six assists), in career start No. 101, and redshirt freshman forward Maceo Williams (15 points, seven rebounds) ended in double-digit scoring for Ashland.
- The six turnovers were the second-fewest for the Eagles in a game this season.
- Defensively, AU kept the Panthers to 34.8 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.
- Ashland is 34-3 all-time against ODU.
UP NEXT
Ashland will remain on the road for a key conference contest on Thursday (Feb. 16) at 7:45 p.m. at Cedarville (17-7, 10-6).
