Ashland University's men's basketball team (12-6 overall, 6-5 Great Midwest Athletic Conference) lost 71-61 to Tiffin (12-5, 6-3) in a league game at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium on Thursday (Jan. 25) night.
Early on, junior guard
Trevell Adams was providing the scoring for AU, as his quick six points helped lead to an 8-4 lead inside of the 15-minute mark. Trailing 9-8, the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run, then ended up with their largest lead to date at 21-12.
Tiffin, however, pulled even at 25-25 with 5:45 left until halftime, then went ahead 27-25. A 3-point field goal by junior wing
Stefan Stanic in the final minute gave Ashland a 32-31 advantage, but the Dragons took a 34-32 lead into the break.
Trailing for the 11
th time at halftime in 2023-24, that was nothing Ashland hadn't seen this season. The Dragons eventually extended their lead to 48-36 – but that was just the beginning of the Eagle comeback.
Sophomore forward
Maceo Williams took charge, and his old-fashioned 3-point play cut the Ashland deficit to 50-46. His put-back made it a two-point game with 8:54 to go, when the Dragons stopped play.
Williams then made two charity tosses to pull AU all the way back at 50-50, and Adams' fast-break layup put Ashland back on top at 52-50. Back and forth the two teams went, before the Dragons moved out to a 60-54 lead inside of the four-minute mark.
But once again, Williams had the answer in the form of a triple to cut the deficit in half. Tiffin put its lead back to six points at 63-57 with less than two minutes to go, and the Eagles couldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Williams ended with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and added eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
- Both Adams (12 points) and sophomore point guard Simon Wheeler (11 points) joined Williams in double-digit scoring.
- Ashland made 93.3 percent (14-of-15) from the foul line – a season-best showing.
UP NEXT
Saturday (Jan. 27) at 1 p.m. at home vs. Thomas More (12-8, 7-5) for another Great Midwest contest.
