In a Great Midwest Athletic Conference matchup on Thursday (Jan. 16) night, the Ashland University men's basketball team lost 95-77 at No. 9-ranked Findlay.
 
At the end of the 97^th meeting between the two, the Eagles moved to 9-7 overall and 5-4 in the league, and the Oilers 15-1, 8-0.
 
The early going saw six lead changes in the first six minutes, and left Ashland with a slim 8-7 lead. Neither team had a lead of more than four points in the first 10 minutes, but it was the Oilers who had it at 20-16.
 
Graduate guard Luke Metzger's 3-point field goal put Ashland back on top at 26-24, and following a first 20 minutes which featured 13 lead changes and three ties, the Eagles trailed by a single point at 41-40.
 
In the first half, Ashland shot 60.7 percent from the field and made 5-of-10 from beyond the arc – but the difference was Findlay's nine offensive rebounds, which resulted in 15 second-chance points.
 
Ashland took a 45-44 lead early in the second half on a jumper from senior guard Gbolahan Adio, then the Oilers took their largest lead to that point at 57-50 inside of the 13½-minute mark. Findlay later went ahead by eight points at 63-55, prompting an Eagle timeout.
 
The Oilers kept the Eagles at arm's length for a while longer, but when junior point guard Jaron Crews made a pair of free throws with 6:26 to play, the deficit was six at 75-69. An Adio layup cut the Findlay lead to four at 75-71, and in less than two minutes, Ashland had made up eight points.
 
Findlay, however, scored five consecutive points to extend its lead en route to victory.
 
…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Crews scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line, leading four Eagles in double digits.
• Sophomore wing Cooper Davis added 17 points, senior forward Maceo Williams posted a dozen, and Adio finished with 11. 

UP NEXT
Tuesday (Jan. 21) at 7 p.m. at Ohio Dominican (7-9, 3-5).