‘Wolves Hand Ashland Men 87-79 Loss
January 10, 2004

Maybe the Ashland University Eagles weren’t behind the eight ball. But, they were behind the three ball and that helped leave them trailing the Northwood Timberwolves all Saturday (Nov. 10) afternoon.

The Timberwolves led, 19-5, just 5:43 into the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball game. Ashland’s only lead in the game came with 19:18 to play in the first half, 2-1. The final result Saturday in Midland, MI, was Northwood 87, Ashland 79.

That illustrates AU’s plight against the Timberwolves. The Eagles had to fight from behind all day. They made plenty of spirited runs, but could never pull even with the home team. Playing from behind leaves little margin of error, especially for an Ashland team still looking for its first conference victory. Northwood kept the Eagles in that early hole by shooting 56.9 percent from the floor (33-58) and 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range.

Ashland is 7-8, 0-5 in GLIAC action. Northwood is 7-7 and 2-4.

After Northwood jumped to that early lead, the Eagles battled back and found themselves down by just two points, 23-21 with 7:04 to go before halftime. Then NU’s Dallas Logan dropped in a layup and two free throws by Derek Fillmore put the lead back to 27-21. Logan, a two-time first team All-GLIAC selection, did major damage to the Eagles all day. He led all players in the game with 22 points.

AU trailed, 39-32 at halftime. The teams played to a draw through the early minutes of the second half and then the ‘Wolves went on a 10-3 run to take a 60-45 lead with 10:52 left in regulation. The Eagles whittled that down to six points, 66-60 with 8:08 to play, but then Fillmore drilled a three-pointer and an AU turnover led to a layup by Djordge Lukic. That gave the home team a 71-60 advantage with 7:27 to play and that was too much for the Eagles to overcome.

Ashland got a strong game from freshman point guard Alex Jones, who had a team-high 18 points. Jones played 36 minutes. He hit four of nine three-point attempts.

Junior guard-forward Mark Church and junior forward Kevin Shorter had 16 points apiece and junior point guard Michael Fowler and freshman forward Greg Emmons had 10 points each. Emmons had a team-best seven rebounds.

Part of Ashland’s early struggles could be attributed to some poor shooting. AU shot just 34.5 percent (10-29) in the first half and was outrebounded, 26-17 over the first 20 minutes. The bigger Timberwolves, in addition to their outside shooting, didn’t lack for inside punch. In the first half the home team outscored AU in the paint, 22-10.

Logan was joined in double digits by Fillmore, who had 16 points (three of four from three-point range) and Nemanja Kreckovic, who had 13 points.

Ashland returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 15), hosting GLIAC North Division foe Saginaw Valley State.