For the second time in a week, the No. RV Ashland University men's basketball team played Kentucky Wesleyan.
More importantly, for the second time in a week, the Eagles defeated the Panthers.
On Saturday (Jan. 6) afternoon, Ashland out-lasted KWC in overtime, 81-77, to improve to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Panthers are 9-4, 4-2 – having taken both conference losses so far in 2023-24 against the Eagles.
Overtime victories at KWC are starting to become a habit – the last Ashland OT win came at the Panthers on Feb. 12, 2022.
After Kentucky Wesleyan scored the first three points on Saturday afternoon, Ashland came back to score the next 13 points. The Panthers re-took the lead at 22-17 thanks to a 11-0 run of their own, but freshman guard
Cooper Davis scored seven points in a row in less than a minute to put AU ahead once more, 24-22.
The halftime break saw Ashland with a 29-28 lead, thanks to an old-fashioned 3-pointer from sophomore forward
Maceo Williams in the final minute of the half. The Eagles kept the Panthers to 2-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc, and turned 10 KWC turnovers into 12 points.
Kentucky Wesleyan went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to go up by a 36-31 count. The Panthers' largest lead to date was 41-35, then the Eagles rallied to knot the contest at 44.
Yet another Kentucky Wesleyan spurt, this one 10-3, put the Panthers up by seven points at 54-47 at the under-12 media timeout. Befitting a game between two teams near the top of the Great Midwest, the margin was slim moving toward the end of the game.
A 3-pointer from sophomore point guard
Simon Wheeler lifted Ashland to a 62-60 lead with six minutes left in regulation. The score was tied at 62 before the Eagles ran off eight straight points – highlighted by a dunk from senior center
Victor Searls.
The Panthers, however, had another run left in them – an 8-0 stretch which forced overtime.
In keeping with what happened throughout the game, Ashland began the extra time with five points in a row, then Kentucky Wesleyan scored four in a row. Another Searls slam inside of the final minute put AU ahead 79-74, then two Davis free throws down the stretch iced the victory.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Davis scored a career-high 24 points in 21 minutes off the bench, while Adams had a season-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds. Wheeler (15 points) and Williams (10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks) rounded out the four Eagles in double-digit scoring.
- The Eagles scored 27 points off 18 Panther turnovers.
- Ashland is 5-0 against Kentucky Wesleyan since joining the Great Midwest.
UP NEXT
Another conference road game on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 7:30 p.m. at Tiffin (8-4, 2-2).
