Two days after scoring a season-low 46 points at Tiffin, the No. RV Ashland University men's basketball team turned in a season-best point total in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference game on Saturday (Jan. 13) afternoon in a 94-86 win at Findlay.
The Eagles up their record to 11-4 overall and 5-3 in the league after a second win at Findlay in the last three seasons, while the Oilers are 6-9, 3-4.
Saturday's game featured one of the best all-around individual games, on the road or overall, in Ashland men's basketball history. Sophomore point guard
Simon Wheeler played nearly every minute in ending with 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field, nine assists and eight rebounds.
At the first media timeout, a fast-paced start had Ashland leading 12-11 – and making 5-of-7 from the field. The Eagles scored eight consecutive points and led 20-16 at the second media stoppage, and thanks to Wheeler's 15 early points, AU led 32-24 with eight minutes left until the break.
After that, however, the Oilers went on a run, and that 14-4 spurt put Findlay ahead 38-36 heading toward halftime. But at the break, the Eagles led 48-43 – thanks in large part to Wheeler's 19 points (to go with six rebounds and three assists), their 62.1-percent shooting from the field and just three turnovers.
There were 13 lead changes in the game's first 20 minutes, and the contest's third tie came at 52-all following an Oiler 3-point field goal. The score was tied again at 57, then Findlay went up 60-57.
Ashland's 7-0 run, punctuated by a Wheeler triple, allowed the Eagles to regain the lead. Another trey, from junior wing
Stefan Stanic, lifted AU to its biggest lead to date at 72-63.
The Eagles went up again by nine points at 79-70, then a triple from grad guard
Ethan Conley gave Ashland its first double-digit advantage at 82-72 inside of the four-minute mark. Findlay worked its deficit down to three points at 86-83, but Wheeler's layup stopped the Oiler momentum with less than 90 seconds to play.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Joining Wheeler with a big game on Saturday was sophomore forward Maceo Williams, who posted 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Conley added a season-high 13 points and season-high-tying seven rebounds.
- Ashland set new season single-game standards by making 64.2 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Eagles' eight turnovers were their second-fewest in 2023-24.
UP NEXT
A conference game at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium on Thursday (Jan. 18) at 7:30 p.m. against Trevecca Nazarene on Faith Night.
