|
Opponent Scouting Report |
|
The opener brings a newcomer to Kates
Gymnasium this year as Cincinnati-Clermont meets the Eagles
for the first time. The Cincinnati area school went 22-12 last
season. The Cougars won the Ohio Regional Campus Conference
tournament. Cincinnati-Clermont won its final 11 games in
2004-05. Troy Girty, a 6-1 senior, averaged 17.8 ppg., last
season. Clermont is off to a 1-1 start this season.
The Eagles’ first road contest comes
on Thursday night at Mount Vernon Nazarene. The Cougars were
21-11 last year and are off to a 4-1 start this season.
Ashland holds a 7-0 edge in the all-time series. Last year at
Kates Gymnasium, the Eagles won, 81-53. Knight had 15
points and nine boards in that victory. AU led, 36-20 at
halftime. The Cougars shot just 27.3 percent (9-33) in the
first half and 30.8 percent (20-65) in the game. Mount Vernon
Nazarene connected on just 2-of-18 three-point tries. Forward
Greg Emmons (Ashland, OH) popped in 14 points and Brown
contributed nine points and 11 rebounds.
The Cougars feature 6-6 junior Mark Hess,
an Ashland native. He had eight points and 11 boards last year
against the Eagles. Steve Hayes, a 7-0 junior center, had 14
points and 13 rebounds against AU. Mount Vernon Nazarene is
coached by Scott Flemming, who began this season with a
299-193 record. He’s been at the helm since 1990. Mount
Vernon Nazarene has won 20 or more games eight times in the
last nine seasons. During that stretch, MVN has gone 212-92
(.697). The Cougars have been invited to four consecutive NAIA
Division II postseason tournaments. This year’s team was
averaging 91.6 ppg., over its first five games.
The week concludes with a home game against
Saint Joseph’s College. The Pumas are coached by former
AU assistant Linc Darner and have won the last two meetings
with the Eagles. Two years ago at Kates Gymnasium, in the
AmeriHost Classic, SJC won, 89-78. Last year in Rensselaer,
IN, the Pumas prevailed, 90-82. SJC was 17-12 a year ago, 11-9
in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
This year, the Pumas are the preseason
choice of the conference coaches to win the GLVC East
Division. The Pumas return their top six scorers from last
season. The leading returning point producer is 6-4 senior
guard-forward Sullivan Sykes (19.7 ppg.). Derek Fey, a 6-8
senior forward, is the top returning rebounder (9.3 rpg.). SJC
was slated to play two home games before coming to AU –
Tuesday (Nov. 15) against Ferris State and Thursday (Nov. 17)
against Upper Iowa.
Brown had 13 points and 11
rebounds in last year’s clash with SJC. Emmons
was good for 14 points. SJC received 23 points from Devin
Thomas and 22 points from Rashad McSwine. The Eagles trail in
the all-time series, 20-14. |
The Week Ahead
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m. – Cincinnati-Clermont at ASHLAND
Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. – ASHLAND at Mount
Vernon Nazarene
Saturday, Nov. 19, 3 p.m. – Saint Joseph’s (IN) at ASHLAND
About the Eagles
AU went 13-14 last season, 6-11 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference. The Eagles return two starters and eight
letterwinners from that squad. In this year’s GLIAC coaches
preseason poll, AU is picked fifth in the GLIAC South Division.
The top returning scorer is junior
guard-forward Vahn Knight (Euclid, OH/Benedictine), who
averaged 10.8 ppg. Senior forward-center Justin Brown
(Columbus, OH/West Liberty State) averaged 10.6 ppg., and 9.3
rpg. Brown was the GLIAC leader in rebounding and was second in
field goal percentage (.658). He was named to the league’s
all-defensive unit and was a second team All-GLIAC selection.
Greg Emmons (Ashland, OH), a 6-7,
230-pound junior forward, averaged 10.4 ppg., and 5.6 rpg., a year
ago. Emmons has the most three-point field goals (28) of any
returnee and his free throw percentage (.757) is the highest of
the veterans.
On Sunday (Nov. 13), the Eagles lost at Ohio
State, 100-67 in a preseason game. Knight had a team-high
15 points. Emmons fired in 13 points and Brown
added 11 points and nine rebounds. With 7:50 to play in the first
half AU trailed by just two points, 23-21. OSU outscored the
Eagles, 30-10 the rest of the half and led at the break, 53-31.
AU shot 35.8 percent (24-67) from the field and
60 percent (12-20) at the free throw line. The Eagles had 15
turnovers. Several of those miscues helped fuel that late
first-half OSU run. Eleven of Knight’s 15 points came in the
second half. The Eagles could never open up the game and run as
they wanted to and that played a large part in the bigger,
stronger Buckeyes enjoying a 46-24 edge in points in the paint.
The Line on Lyons
Ashland head coach Roger Lyons is in his 13th season with
the Eagles. He brings a 189-140 career record into this season.
Lyons is the career victories leader at AU. A 1974 Ashland
graduate, Lyons has guided the Eagles to 18 or more wins in a
season five times. In the 1999-2000 season, he directed the Eagles
to a 20-9 finish. His 1987-88 team went 19-10 and advanced to the
NCAA Division II playoffs. The AU head coach is originally from
Akron, OH.
Short Shots
- AU has won six of its last seven openers.
With Lyons as AU’s head coach, the Eagles are 10-2 in
season openers. Lyons is 2-0 in his career against Mount Vernon
Nazarene and 4-4 against Saint Joseph’s.
- Ashland went 4-1 in its final five road
games last season.
- A year ago, AU was 7-3 in non-conference
action. Over the last three seasons the Eagles are 22-8 (.733)
outside of the conference.
- Over the last three games of last season
Brown averaged 12.3 rpg.
- AU attempted 520 three-point field goals
last season, the fourth highest total in school history.
- The Eagles were 6-3 last season when scoring
80 or more points.
Lines from Lyons
On playing three games in the first week
of the season and whether he’s worried about fatigue.
“No doubt, I’m
worried about it. It’s really four games counting the Ohio
State game. I’m worried about fatigue and these are going to
be tough games. We practiced light today (Monday). We’re not
going to leave our legs on the practice floor.”
On Mount Vernon Nazarene.
“We went and saw them
against Houghton (NY). They played well, it was a wide-open game.
That’s a tough place to win. We’re going to be going
into a tough environment and we’ll need to play smart
basketball. That’s a real learning experience for our team,
we haven’t done that yet.”
On playing Ohio State.
“Even though the score
ended up like it did, we can take some things from that game. I
saw Brett (Bartlett) develop a little bit as a point
guard. The second thing, on the offensive end, we’ve started
to develop a personality. The ball’s going inside. Guys are
seeing that good things happen when we get the ball inside.”
Lyons on the Ohio State
atmosphere.
“It was a great
experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We wanted to enjoy it
as players and coaches and I think we did.”
Up Next
Next week, the Eagles go to Fort Myers, FL, for the
Hillmyer-Tremont Tipoff Classic, hosted by Florida Gulf Coast
(Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 22-23). The week ends with a trip to West
Virginia Wesleyan (Saturday, Nov. 26, 2 p.m.). |
