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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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UP NEXT
Saturday (Jan. 27) at 1 p.m. at home vs. Thomas More (12-8, 7-5) for another Great Midwest contest.
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