Two days after losing late at Cedarville, Ashland University's men's basketball team won a game close and late against Findlay, 80-78, on Saturday (March 2) afternoon at Kates Gymnasium.
In sweeping the season series against the Oilers, and winning the fourth of the last five in the series overall, the Eagles enter the 2024 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament at 17-10 overall and 11-9 in the league.
"I'm proud of our guys," said Ashland head coach
John Ellenwood. "I think our guys have some fight. We just went through five really tough games. We know our path to the NCAA (Tournament), and we think we're good enough to make a run here, if we want to.
"We've got to believe right now."
Findlay (12-16, 9-11) ran out to a 13-4 lead in less than five minutes to start the contest, but the Eagles worked that deficit down to 16-14 before an Oiler 3-pointer stopped the momentum. And by the time sophomore forward
Maceo Williams hit two free throws, AU led, 25-23.
A 15-3 Oiler run, however, allowed Findlay to pull away to its biggest lead of the game to date at 38-28 with 4:33 to go to the break. By halftime, a buzzer-beating triple put Findlay ahead at 49-38.
The Oilers continued to extend their lead coming out of the locker room. It was a 52-38 lead early in the second half, and 56-43 four minutes in. Ashland, however, began to chip away at the deficit, and with 13:09 left, it was six points at 60-54.
Back-to-back treys from redshirt freshman wing
Cooper Davis lifted Ashland back to a lead at 66-64, and the Eagles' biggest lead was 72-67 with less than six minutes left. A layup from senior center
Victor Searls lifted AU to a new game-high lead of five points at 74-69.
Leading 74-73 with 1:32 remaining, Searls went to the line for a 1-and-1, and made both to extend the AU lead to three points. The Eagles got a key defensive stop, but the Oilers got the ball back with 26.8 ticks to go with a chance to tie.
Findlay missed the potential tying triple, then Williams went to the line with 16.6 seconds remaining and split the pair to put Ashland ahead by four. The Oilers' put-back gave them a chance at 77-75 with 8.6 seconds to go, then the Eagles made two charity tosses and Findlay then made three.
Searls made 1-of-2 to put Ashland up two with 0.4 seconds left, and the Eagles would run that out.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- One of the top shooting teams in NCAA Division I entering the game, Ashland made 51.7 percent from the floor on Saturday.
- Four Eagles scored in double figures – Williams and Davis with 17 points each, sophomore point guard Simon Wheeler with 15 points, and Searls with 13 points. Williams had nine rebounds, and Wheeler dished out eight assists – and Davis finished the game at a contest-best plus-20 in plus-minus.
- "Cooper got us right back in that game in the second half. It was his day," Ellenwood said. "He's playing better defense, and that's what I'm more proud of him about than offense. He's always willing to shoot it. I want him to have those defensive moments, and he's doing that more and more."
- Graduate forward Javin Etzler came off the bench for a strong nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes – after not playing against the Yellow Jackets.
- "I'm very proud of him. It's how you handle stuff," Ellenwood said. "He came into practice on Friday, making sure I saw his effort. And I did. I was very proud of him to come in and do what he did."
- Senior guards Brandon Haraway and Ethan Conley, and senior forward Ethan Golnick, were honored on Senior Day prior to tip-off.
UP NEXT
A conference tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday (March 5) at a time and venue and against an opponent to be determined.
