Jason Moore was pure from the free-throw line.
That was a difference maker in the Ashland University men's basketball team's 73-67 win over the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers on Saturday (Feb. 8). The two sides squared away from Kates Gymnasium, for a late-season Great Midwest Athletic Conference bout.
Moore, who helped surge the team to a win, posted an impressive 22 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in the Eagles' 73-67 victory over the Panthers.
However, the Eagles' 17th win of the 2025-26 campaign didn't come without its fair share of hiccups.
In the opening half of play, Ashland found themselves with a comfortable 10-3 lead after four minutes off the back of Moore, who scored four points in the paint. That set the tone for what was to come. Over the next six minutes of action, the Panthers were able to march back into it, taking a 13-12 lead with a barrage of scoring efforts.
They were knocking shots down from inside the paint, the mid-range and beyond the arc, causing frustrations for the Eagles' defense.
That storyline carried its way into halftime, as the Panthers held a 33-31 lead, with the Eagles needing a response in the second half. At the break, Eagles head coach
John Ellenwood spoke about what the team needed to do to get back into the game.
"I thought we came out good, but I felt like we just didn't use our bench the way we needed to," he said.
Coming out of halftime, it was obvious that the Eagles' bench wanted to respond; the chance, though, for their efforts to be shown just had to wait a little bit.
The Eagles dropped the first few baskets, but after trailing 45-40 with 15:49 to go in the game, a spark was lit, and the Eagles never looked back. With lockdown defense and an intense offense, the Eagles rattled off the next nine points, jumping to a 49-45 lead.
After that flip of the game script, the Panthers kept clawing to try to get back into the game, with them being able to tie up the game 66-66 with less than three minutes left in the outing. However, with the game hanging in the balance of someone stepping up, Moore rose to the occasion and knocked down two free throws with 63 seconds remaining to take the lead.
The Panthers weren't able to get any of their game-tying looks to go, turning to fouling down the stretch as a last-ditch effort.
Ultimately, the Eagles were able to squeak out the win.
"We thought we did a really good job on the defensive end late," Ellenwood said. "Their point guard is really good and we had to make some adjustments to take them out of their rhythm."
The Eagles finished the game with a 44.9-percent mark from the field and 50-percent clip from downtown, all while tacking on 23 points from the charity stripe.
In total, three players finished in double figures, with Moore at the top of the group, with 22 points, and forward
Maceo Williams and guard
Max Dawson just behind with 17 and 14, respectively. When reflecting on the win, Dawson praised the team's "one game at a time" mentality.
"Coach just says it all the time. We are just taking it one game at a time," Dawson said. "The next game is the biggest game of the year. We know that there's no easy game in this league."
With Dawson leading the charge off the bench, the Eagles got a total of 21 points off the bench. In comparison, the Panthers snagged just 10.
"That was our advantage, a little bit of a deeper bench," Ellenwood said. "Those guys, they went longer than they normally do. We felt like they were playing well. They got us back in the game and we just wanted to roll with it."
The Eagles, riding a five-game winning streak, now prepare for the Cedarville Yellow Jackets, where the two teams will take on one another from the Callan Athletic Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:45 p.m..
"Cedarville is really, really good at home," Ellenwood said. "It'll be a different game than what it was here. We've got to come ready to go in a tough environment."
