Warriors Hand Eagles 85-83 Overtime Loss
January 12, 2006

Complete Box Score

Maybe like the folks on “Green Acres,” city living just doesn’t suit the Ashland University basketball team.

Thursday (Jan. 12) the Eagles took the court as a nationally ranked team for the first time all season. AU went to Wayne State ranked 25th in the country. Maybe all that did was increase the size of the bullseye on the Eagles’ back. At any rate, playing in Detroit at the Matthaei Building, the Eagles saw their six-game winning streak come to an end with an 85-83 overtime loss to Wayne State.

The Eagles (12-4/4-2 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) forced an extra session when junior guard-forward Vahn Knight hit a jumper with 12 ticks left in regulation. That tied the contest, 74-74. In overtime, WSU (7-6/2-3) built a seven-point advantage, 82-75 with 3:50 to go. AU stormed back and took an 83-82 lead with 1:58 to play on a three-point basket by junior guard Rob McRae.

That was Ashland’s final lead. WSU regained the lead on a layup by Eric Parker with 1:42 showing on the clock. A Parker free throw with 39 seconds to go gave WSU an 85-83 advantage. The score never changed the rest of the way. AU got off a shot by junior forward Greg Emmons with just under two seconds, but it was blocked by WSU center Jeffrey Ferguson.

AU led at halftime, 34-31. The game went back and forth for much of the night. Ashland owned a five-point lead with 12:38 to play in regulation, but the Warriors regrouped and bounced back to take a seven-point lead with 7:44 to play. WSU was in front, 73-67 with 42 seconds to play in regulation. AU outscored the home team, 7-1 the rest of the way to send the game to an extra period. Knight had four points in that run and McRae scored the other three points.

Knight and senior center Justin Brown paced the Eagles with 21 points each. Brown added 14 rebounds to notch his eighth double-double of the season. McRae had 19 points and three steals and Emmons had 15 points and seven rebounds. The AU bench contributed just four points.

Two WSU players registered double-doubles. Guard Kris Krzyminski had 22 points and 12 assists and guard Herb Goliday had 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Warriors also received 21 points from guard Ethan Banks.

The Eagles hurt themselves at the free throw line where they connected on just 17-of-33 attempts (51.5 percent). WSU made its first 15 free throw attempts and finished 17-of-19 (89.5 percent). The Warriors had 15 turnovers, compared to 11 for AU. Ashland claimed the battle of the boards, 45-40.

This is the first of two consecutive games against ranked foes for WSU. Saturday, the Warriors host Findlay (#11). That same day Ashland will play at Hillsdale. The Eagles and Warriors are tied for second place, behind Findlay, in the GLIAC South Division.