Game Eagles Men Fall at Ohio State, 100-67
November 13, 2005

Like gum on the sole of a shoe, the Ashland University Eagles kept sticking around Sunday (Nov. 13) at Ohio State’s Value City Arena. For 15 minutes, the bigger, faster, stronger Buckeyes couldn’t rid themselves of their Division II visitor.

However, late in the first half, the Buckeyes pulled the welcome mat out from underneath the Eagles. Then the Eagles, like gum scraped from one of those bristle-filled mats, began to come apart.

That was the story in this preseason basketball game, which was won by the Buckeyes, 100-67. With 7:50 left in the first half, a jumper by AU junior guard-forward Vahn Knight pulled the Eagles to within two points, 23-21. From that point until the first-half buzzer sounded, Ashland was outscored, 30-10. That burst took the Eagles out of the game.

“We turned the ball over six consecutive times when the game was tight,” lamented AU head coach Roger Lyons. “That determined the outcome of the game. We turned it over above the foul line extended. That was the point that broke our back.”

It’s not surprising that the Eagles ran into trouble. AU is a team that’s still growing up and it was matched against a Big Ten team. These preseason games are supposed to go to the home team. AU gave all it could give throughout the game, but especially in the game’s first 15 minutes. At some point, fatigue had to become a factor.

“I think it did,” said Ohio State coach Thad Motta, when posed that very question. “I thought they (Ashland) played well. I had never seen them play, I didn’t know anything going in. I think they came out and were going to come at us. That’s exactly why you play these games. I think maybe they wore down a little bit.”

The Eagles’ lineup was certainly worn down by fouls. Both of AU’s post players, Justin Brown and Matt Engler, fouled out. Brown had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds in 23 minutes. Knight was AU’s leading scorer with 15 points. Junior forward Greg Emmons had 13 points and five rebounds.

AU had 15 turnovers, seven in the first half. Thanks to that late first-half surge, Ohio State ended up shooting 50 percent (17-34) for the first half. Again, though, for 15 minutes, AU did force the Buckeyes into less-than-desirable shots. The Eagles were helped by the fact that OSU’s Terence Dials never really got untracked. He played 12 minutes and had 12 points and two boards. Dials sat for long stretches due to foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Two of his infractions came for pushing underneath the hoop.

“He had some fouls, as a senior he has to know he can’t have those,” said Motta. “He can’t allow himself to do that.”

The Eagles, who want to feature a running game, are still searching for players who can consistently knock down shots. Knight showed signs of being able to do that, hitting 3-of-5 field goal tries in the second half. Emmons connected on 2 of 7 three-point attempts.

AU also hurt itself at the free throw line where it canned 12 of 20 shots (60 percent). The Eagles’ plan coming in was to open up the game and not led the Buckeyes push them around in a half-court game.

“At one point in the second half we only had 17, 18 possessions,” Lyons noted. “The game really slowed on us. We’d like to get the game open and take their size out of it.”

OSU’s Ron Lewis had 18 points to lead all players in the game. Ivan Harris had 10 points. All 10 players on the Ohio State roster scored at least eight points.

Tuesday (Nov. 15), the regular season opens for the Eagles with a home game with Cincinnati-Clermont. That’s one of three games the Eagles have in a busy opening week.