On Thursday (Feb. 6) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, Ashland University's men's basketball team outscored Cedarville 44-27 in the second half, en route to a 73-59 home Great Midwest Athletic Conference victory.
With the victory, their sixth in the last eight games, the Eagles (12-8 overall, 8-5 Great Midwest) pulled into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with Lake Erie, which played at Ohio Dominican later on Thursday night.
"They're playing really well right now," Ashland head coach
John Ellenwood said of Cedarville. "I told our guys, "You guys can play with anybody in the country when you want to focus and when we play together.' I was proud of our guys. I thought our second half was outstanding, and that's what we needed."
The Yellow Jackets are 10-10, 5-8.
At the game's first media timeout, the Eagles led 10-6 thanks to six straight points. Ashland's run eventually ended at 12 in a row and with a 16-6 lead.
The under-8 media stoppage saw the Eagles leading 21-20, but the Yellow Jackets cut into their deficit thanks to three consecutive 3-point field goals. Ashland didn't let Cedarville take the lead, however, then extended its to 25-20.
An 8-0 run eventually gave the Yellow Jackets the lead at 28-25 going into the final two minutes of the first half, and at the break, they had a 32-29 lead – following a first 20 minutes in which there were four ties and three lead changes.
Back-to-back buckets to begin the second half lifted Ashland to a 33-32 lead, then graduate forward
Javin Etzler's triple – the Eagles' first of the night – made it a 36-32 edge. Two baskets from junior forward
Maceo Williams made it a 40-35 advantage.
Sophomore wing
Cooper Davis' trey launched AU to a 50-39 lead outside of the 13-minute mark, then sophomore wing
Aden Gregory followed with a corner triple for a game-high 12-point lead at 53-41.
Ashland ran its lead up to 17 points at 60-43, but Cedarville rallied thanks to a 6-1 spurt. The Eagles, however, kept the Yellow Jackets at arm's length for the remainder of the contest.
SPREAD-OUT EAGLE OFFENSE…AND THE REST OF THE STORY
- Six Ashland players scored at least eight points in Thursday's win, paced by Williams (18 points, 8-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists and a block). He has 1,200 career points as an Eagle, now 19th on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Gregory came off the bench and did what he's done all season – score. He ended with 14 points, and added three rebounds and a blocked shot.
- "I get all my confidence from my teammates and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," Gregory said. "I just love that He gives you that confidence, the ability to play. I think the sky's the limit for this team. We've seen, when we play our best, we can beat anybody."
- Said Ellenwood, "He's a special kid. He gives all the glory to God and his teammates. He could care less if he scores one point or 20, and that's a special kid. He's all about the team, and he's great to coach."
- Junior point guard Jaron Crews added 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
- The Eagles made 64 percent of their shots and 6-of-10 from downtown in the second half, and finished at 55.6 percent from the floor for the game.
- Defensively, AU kept Cedarville to 32.8-percent shooting from the field. Senior wing Stefan Stanic ended with four blocked shots, two steals, four rebounds and eight points.
- "He's one of the best I've ever coached in defense," Ellenwood noted. "He's guarding somebody, you feel real comfortable."
- Ashland is 40-14 all-time vs. the Yellow Jackets.
UP NEXT
Saturday (Feb. 8) at 3 p.m. at Northwood.
