Husted Pushes Knights Past Eagles Men, 75-67
February 14, 2004

Complete Box Score

Like author John Grisham, the Gannon Golden Knights put together their own version of the story, “A Painted House,” on Saturday (Feb. 14) at Ashland University’s Kates Gymnasium.

Time and again the Knights went into the paint against the Eagles and most times, that strategy paid off. Gannon center Geoff Husted had 37 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Golden Knights (19-5/10-4 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) past Ashland (10-14/3-11), 75-67.

Ashland struggled to control the 6-11 Husted all game. He went to the foul line 19 times and hit 17 free throws. He had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the second half when the Golden Knights broke open the game. At halftime, the visitors were in front, 35-33. Gannon outscored the Eagles, 23-8 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Golden Knights outrebounded the Eagles, 44-33 and had a 15-0 spread in second-chance points. In points in the paint the visitors enjoyed a 30-18 edge.

At the start of the contest, it looked like it would be the Eagles who would dominate the action. Both teams were coming off draining Thursday performances, - AU lost at home by a point to Mercyhurst and Gannon won at Findlay by two points. Ashland scored the game’s first six points and led, 12-5 with 17:27 to go in the first half. Five minutes later the Eagles were in front, 20-11. But when Gannon could get the contest into a half-court affair, AU was in trouble. AU’s big men collected fouls all afternoon. AU ended up with 20 fouls and Gannon had 22 in what became a slow, grinding, half-court matchup.

The Eagles seemed to lose their legs in the opening moments of the second half. Husted had 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the half. Brandon Andrews had 11 of his 14 points during the second half’s first 10 minutes. Combined with Husted, Andrews gave GU the perfect inside-outside duo.

Freshman point guard Alex Jones had 16 points to pace the Eagles. Freshman forward Greg Emmons came off the bench to score 14 points. He had six rebounds, as did junior forward Kevin Shorter. Freshman guard Vahn Knight had 11 points.

Neither team could manage to shoot 40 percent from the floor. Gannon finished at 39.1 percent (25-64) and Ashland completed the game at 38.5 percent (20-52).