It was a doubly-successful Thursday (Feb. 5) night for Ashland University's men's basketball team.
Not only did the Eagles take a 63-57 decision from Thomas More at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, but thanks to a loss by Walsh, Ashland now stands just one game out of first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference standings.
The Eagles are 16-6 overall and 10-4 in the league after their ninth win in the last 11 games, and the Saints are 10-11, 4-10.
"I'm proud of our guys," said Ashland head coach
John Ellenwood. "I thought offensively, at times, we looked really good."
Senior forward
Maceo Williams converted an old-fashioned 3-point play early to give Ashland a 12-4 lead, but after the Eagles led 19-8, the Saints rallied to cut their deficit to three at 21-18.
At halftime, Ashland led 31-26 – thanks in large part to sophomore forward
Jason Moore's 14 points, 11 assists on 13 made field goals, and keeping Thomas More to 30.6 percent from the field.
The Saints pulled even at 37-37 five minutes into the second half, but the Eagles responded with the next six points – which helped AU go back up by double digits at 51-41.
Thomas More whittled a 55-43 deficit back to two points at 59-57 – and the Eagles were tasked with keeping that lead for the final 60 seconds. They did, thanks to a steal and fast-break layup from freshman guard
Jason Henlon and two free throws from junior wing
Cooper Davis.
ANOTHER STRONG ALL-AROUND WILLIAMS GAME
- Williams ended the night with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. With 1,777 career points, he is 20 away from catching Larry Aulger (1,797) for third on the program's all-time scoring list.
- "There were some tough rebounds. He did a great job for us," Ellenwood said. "
- Moore had 14 points, and redshirt freshman point guard Jordan Edwards added 11.
- Freshman point guard Beau Siegfried had two points, four assists and two rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
- "He's just getting better," Ellenwood said. "I'm very proud of him. He's a great leader on the floor. I love the energy he's bringing for us right now."
- The Eagles had 16 assists to just nine turnovers, while making 50.0 percent from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line.
- Thursday's game was the third in a row where AU led and there were no lead changes.
- "We played a desperate team tonight, and it was nice to win that game," Ellenwood said. "You knew they weren't going to go away."
- Ashland is 11-0 this season when leading at the half.
COMING UP
Another league home game on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 3 p.m. vs. Kentucky Wesleyan (14-8, 8-6). It will be Alumni Day, where the 1975-76 and 2015-16 teams will be honored.
