Oilers Overpower Eagles Men, 85-69
January 31, 2004

When Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, the sports world was stunned. Four minutes. In the scope of an hour, or a day, that’s a short period of time.

For the Ashland University basketball team four minutes seemed like forever Saturday (Jan. 31) at Findlay’s Croy Gym. With 4:15 left in the first half the Eagles trailed the home team by just a single digit, 30-29. Then the Oilers went on a 17-4 run to take a 47-33 halftime lead. The Eagles bounced back several times in the second half and even got that spread down to 55-50 with 10:53 left in regulation. But that four-minute salvo that ended the first half was just too much for the young Eagles, who ended up on the short end of an 85-69 tally.

The loss was Ashland’s second straight and leaves the Eagles with a 9-12 card, 2-9 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Findlay is 16-5 and 8-3.

This game didn’t lack for excitement or interesting matchups. AU freshman guard Alex Jones went toe-to-toe with UF sophomore floor general Dustin Pfeifer. Pfeifer finished with 18 points and two assists. Eleven of Pfeifer’s points came at the free throw line. Jones had 14 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists. The two saw a lot of each other - Pfeifer was on the floor 31 minutes and Jones logged 28 minutes.

Findlay sharpshooter Tyson McGaughlin came off the bench to score 23 points. He was 6-of-9 shooting, 3-of-6 from three-point range. UF freshman center Chris Commons had 13 points.

Findlay got its first look at AU junior forward Kevin Shorter and found out that he knows how to maneuver inside. Shorter had a couple of dunks on the way to 10 points. He also had four steals. AU freshman forward Greg Emmons came off the bench to collect seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Jones and Shorter were the only AU players to reach double figures in scoring. The Eagles were matched against a deeper, more experienced Findlay team that also had the benefit of a raucous home crowd. AU-Findlay games normally draw well and Saturday’s game was no exception – the announced crowd was 1,372.

AU actually held its own throughout the first half, even with those fatal four final minutes. AU shot 52 percent (13-12) over the first 20 minutes and outrebounded the Oilers, 16-12. But Findlay drove the ball into the heart of the Eagle defense and that resulted in a parade to the free throw stripe. Findlay was 21-for-25 at the free throw line (84.0 percent) in the first half. Ashland made 7-of-9 free throw tries in the half. For the game, Findlay was good on 33-of-40 free throw attempts (82.5 percent). The Oilers outrebounded the Eagles, 31-30. The turnovers were nearly even – 16 for Ashland, 13 for Findlay.

Ashland played without head coach Roger Lyons, who missed the game because of the death of a family friend. AU assistant coach Steve Fleming served as the head coach for Saturday’s game.

Ashland’s next game is this coming Thursday (Feb. 5) at home against Hillsdale.