Eagles Play at Top Speed with Jones in Lead
February 21, 2004

By Joe Monaco, AU Sports Information

No one has ever won the Indianapolis 500 by driving in the entire race in first gear. No one has ever won by being cautious of every turn while putting the feelings of the other drivers ahead of their own desire to win.

The ones who win it are the aggressive drivers who see an inch of daylight between two cars going 180 miles per hour and don’t hesitate for a second in speeding toward it. They are the ones who realize the brake only sometimes exists and that top speed is the only speed.

Freshman Alex Jones (Englewood, OH/Northmont) carries the same aggressive approach with every minute he logs on the court for the Ashland University men’s basketball team. It doesn’t matter whether he sprints the ball up the floor, roams five feet behind the three-point line looking for any opening of a shot or hovers defensively around his man, the AU point guard has brought a new, more aggressive attitude to the Eagles’ lineup.

“I’ve always been an aggressive point guard,” Jones said. “I don’t shy away from anyone because I honestly believe that I can play with anyone. If somebody has a better look than me then I’m going to give them the ball, but I don’t shy from shooting. I have confidence that I’ll make it.”

The point guard is traditionally a position of leadership on the basketball court along with being the spark plug in the offense. Since Roger Lyons established his fast break offense, very few true freshmen have been asked to step in at the point and play as many minutes as Jones has this season. What’s more impressive than his ability to run the Eagles’ offense has been his ability to score points in bunches.

“His scoring has been a big bonus for us,” said Lyons. “He has a tremendous ability to push the ball up the floor and we thought that he would be more of a passer than a scorer, but he’s surprised us.”

With three games remaining in the season, the Eagles find themselves 10-14 overall with a 3-11 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. While the GLIAC tournament might have to wait until next season, AU is concerned about putting up a strong finish to this season.

“In most of our games, we got behind by 10 or 15 points early then had to battle back in the second half. We could play with teams in the second half, but we always put ourselves in a big hole in the first half. We need to show confidence right from the beginning and put together a complete game,” replied Jones.

The Englewood, OH, native currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.9 ppg., which ranks him 19th in the conference. He holds team highs in steals (28), three-pointers made (45), field goals made (99) and is second in assists (67). A dangerous player from behind the arc, Jones is 11th in the conference in three-pointers made and three-point percentage (39.5 percent).

Among all GLIAC point guards, he is only behind Michigan Tech’s Jason Marcotte and Mercyhurst’s Justin Shouse in those categories. Jones is also the top freshman scorer in the conference and continues to make a strong push toward GLIAC Freshman of the Year. He was named GLIAC South Player of the Week (Feb. 9) when he scored 22 points, including 5-of-8 from behind the three-point line, and added four rebounds and three steals in AU’s 76-69 victory over Hillsdale.

Playing point guard in the GLIAC is not always the easiest position, but Jones has stepped up to every challenge and has seen every type of point guard that the conference has to offer. Whether it’s the quickness of Dustin Pfieffer (Findlay) and Dennis Springs (Ferris State) or the scoring ability of Shouse and Marcotte, Jones doesn’t have the luxury to take a single night off. Every game brings a new challenge from a new opponent.

“I enjoyed playing against Marcotte because he got the best of me in our first meeting and he’s where I want to be next year. I haven’t met anyone as quick as Pfieffer and I’m going to look forward to every time we face each other,” Jones added.

According to Lyons, Jones isn’t that far off from being mentioned in the same sentence as the rest of the top point guards in the conference.

“I don’t think that Alex is there just yet. He’s approaching that state and next year he should be right there,” Lyons admitted.

One thing that has helped Jones turn into the player that he has become has been the support of teammate Michael Fowler (Aurora, IL/Lincoln Junior College). It’s been Fowler’s constant tutelage of how to play the position at the college level and his encouragement that has really helped Jones’ game.

“Mike’s played a big part this season because he doesn’t shy away from giving me tips on my game. He really understands the position and the game,” Jones added.

No one can question the strides that AU has shown since first stepping out onto the floor back in November. While they have showed signs of youth and inexperience, the Eagles know that they’re heading in the right direction. Along with Jones, freshmen Vahn Knight (Euclid, OH/St. Benedictine) and Greg Emmons (Ashland, OH) have helped the Eagles start to develop a strong nucleus for next season.

“It’s exciting because you can see us grow with every game we play. We all understand once we played a couple of games that we were no longer freshmen. We’re all getting more comfortable on the floor and in the system. It’s showing even though the wins might not,” added Jones.

A sign of progression from the team can be traced to the Eagles’ 60-59 loss to Mercyhurst on Feb. 12. The first meeting between these two teams proved to be a blowout as the Lakers hammered AU, 76-49. The second contest established a different scenario as the Eagles played the ‘Hurst down to the wire and held a 59-57 lead with eight seconds remaining until Shouse drained a three-pointer to give MC a one-point advantage.

With the Eagles looking for one shot to win the game, Lyons put the fate of the game into the hands of his 18-year-old point guard and allowed him to take the ball off the inbounds pass, sprint up the court and attempt to win the game. Even though Jones’ three-pointer at the buzzer fell short, it was a sign that Lyons showed a strong confidence in his point guard’s ability to put the ball in his hands as time wound down with the game on the line.

“We wanted Alex to bring the ball up the court and allow him to make the decision of whether to shoot at the end or pass it. He made the mistake of sprinting up the floor then stopping and allowing the defense to swarm him. That’s something that he needed to learn. The one thing that I learned long ago from coaching is at the end of the game you want a good player with the ball instead of a good play. We had a good player with the ball at the end of the game,” Lyons explained.

That’s one of the things the AU faithful can be confident about when they come to Kates Gymnasium to watch Jones lead the Eagles. He plays with a confidence uncanny for a freshman, an aggressive attitude that is unparalleled and a determination to be successful that has no brake.

It’s his game to win and the only way to win it is by playing at top speed.