On Saturday (Nov. 14) night, the Ashland University men's basketball team opened the home portion of the 2026-27 schedule with a 77-55 win over Maryville at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
 
The Eagles are 1-1 on the young season, and the Saints are 0-3.
 
"Good to get a win," said Ashland head coach John Ellenwood. "Just hoping that we can learn from this and continue to get a little bit better each game with this team. A lot of guys got good minutes at home.
 
"I thought we did a good job defensively, forced a lot of turnovers. We've got to continue to get better offensively."
 
Saturday night's game was the first-ever meeting between the two Midwest Regional opponents.
 
The Saints went out to a 9-5 lead at the game's first media timeout, but the Eagles came out of the stoppage and scored nine straight points.
 
Inside of the eight-minute mark of the first half, Ashland led 20-16 – and had points from seven different players. By halftime, the Eagles boasted their biggest lead at 35-24 – and nine different players scored in the game's first 20 minutes.
 
Ashland came out of the locker room quick, scoring the first six points to go up by 17 points. The Eagles eventually extended that advantage to a game-high 26 points at 66-40.
 
Sophomore guard Max Dawson paced all scorers on Saturday with a game-high 20 points, 18 of those coming on 3-point field goals. Dawson is in his first season as a starter from the beginning of the campaign at AU.
 
"This year, along with the other four guys, when we step on the floor, we need to set the tone early," said Dawson. "We didn't come out real great tonight. That's got to be a point of emphasis."
 
Said Ellenwood of Dawson, "I see aggressiveness, and I like that out of him. He's never a guy who shies away from things, and we need that. The nice thing about Max is, sometimes, when nothing is going right, he'll find a way to get you a bucket."
 
Off the bench, freshman guard Christian Wilkins posted 15 points, and freshman guard Kellen Wiley added 10 points. Sophomore guard Jason Henlon chipped in with nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
 
The Saints turned the ball over 25 times, resulting in 19 Eagle points.
 
Ashland will remain at home for another in-region game on Sunday (Nov. 15) at 4 p.m. vs. Wayne State.