Chargers Men Run Past Depleted Eagles, 95-66
January 25, 2003

High energy bills are the norm in the Midwest this winter. It’s costly to have fuel, but as the Ashland University Eagles proved on Saturday (Jan. 25) it’s more costly when you run out of juice.

AU senior guard Isaac Kincaid has scored over 1,000 points in his career and this is the third consecutive year he’s led the Eagles in scoring. Kincaid is averaging 18.8 ppg. Saturday at Hillsdale he didn’t put up a shot as he was reduced to a spectator’s role with a hamstring injury. The Eagles missed his presence as they were routed by Hillsdale, 95-66 at Hillsdale’s Jess Phillips Arena.

The loss was Ashland’s third straight and leaves the Eagles at 13-6, 5-5 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Hillsdale is 10-9 and 3-7.

Without Kincaid in the lineup, the Eagles were challenged offensively. Only two AU players reached double digits in scoring – senior guard Angelo Edwards had 12 points and sophomore center Mike Campbell had 10 points. Ashland shot just 36.1 percent (22-61) from the floor and 64.3 percent (18-28) from the free throw line. The Eagles couldn’t connect with any consistency from three-point range either, hitting four of 16 shots (25 percent),

It didn’t help matters any that Hillsdale took an early lead. That made the hill the cold-shooting Eagles were staring at look like Mount Everest. The Chargers were picked to win the GLIAC South Division in the league’s preseason poll, but have struggled for most of this season. Against AU, the Chargers looked like the team that was predicted to be one of the GLIAC’s finest. The Chargers had a 46-39 edge on the glass and outscored AU in the paint, 22-14.

Junior forward Chris Northcross had 19 points and 12 rebounds and senior center Matt Mylnarchek had 16 points and four rebounds. Northcross canned nine of 13 field goal attempts and Mylnarchek was on target with six of 10 shots from the floor.

Forward Brooks Miller had 15 points and forward Tom Farmer came off the bench to contribute 12 points and six rebounds. Hillsdale shot 50 percent (35-70) from the floor. Campbell, AU’s strongest inside player, was limited to 21 minutes of work and fouled out with 9:36 left in the game.

The home team was in front, 50-32 at halftime. The Eagles did well to get the margin under 20 points at that juncture. AU led, 4-2 with 17:51 left in the first half, but two minutes later, was behind, 11-4. In the second half, the HC lead grew to 33 points, 90-57, with 3:03 to play.