In a match-up of two of the top men's basketball teams in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Ashland University lost 86-74 to No. 15-ranked Walsh on Thursday (Feb. 26) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
The loss puts the Eagles at 19-8 overall and 13-6 in the conference, while the regular-season champion Cavaliers are 23-3, 16-3.
Walsh jumped out to a largest lead of 16 points at 27-11 outside of the halfway point of the first half, then 30-14 inside of halfway. The Cavaliers made 12 of their first 15 shots from the floor and six of their first seven from 3-point range.
Ashland worked its deficit back to 10 at 32-22 after a pair of free throws from freshman guard
Jason Henlon. The Eagles trailed by 10 again at 41-31 late in the first half, and by nine at 44-35 at halftime.
In those first 20 minutes, Walsh made 9-of-12 from beyond the arc, and Ashland hit all seven of its free throws.
At the under-12 media timeout in the second half, the Cavaliers led at 67-54. A layup from senior forward
Maceo Williams, however, cut that deficit to seven at 67-60, then the run became 9-0 when junior wing
Destin Logan nailed a 3-pointer.
With 7:05 remaining, Williams split two free throws for a 69-66 deficit, but Walsh scored five straight thereafter. The Eagles got as close as four points the rest of the way.
WRAPPING IT UP
- Williams led all scorers on Thursday night with 19 points, and added 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
- Henlon (13 points) and freshman point guard Beau Siegfried (11) rounded out three Eagles in double-digit scoring.
- Ashland had 14 assists to 11 turnovers, and made 76.5 percent from the foul line (13-of-17).
- The Eagles turned 15 Cavaliers turnovers into 13 points.
COMING UP
Ashland will conclude the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 3 p.m. at Findlay (16-11, 10-9).
