Off the Glass – Or Mat – Eagles Excel; AU Men Defeat Hillsdale, 75-69
January 14, 2006

Complete Box Score

Throughout this season, the Ashland University basketball team has established itself as one of the top rebounding units in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Saturday (Jan. 14) at Hillsdale, the Eagles gave a Moses Malone-type performance.

First of all, the Eagles rebounded from Thursday’s overtime loss at Wayne State, turning back Hillsdale, 75-69. Much of their success against the Chargers can be traced to the way the Eagles dominated on the backboards, rolling up a 48-29 rebounding edge.

The victory improves Ashland’s record to 13-4, 5-2 in the GLIAC South Division. The Eagles are in second place in the division, trailing only Findlay. HC is 8-8, 4-3 in league play. The two teams will square off again in a couple of weeks in Ashland.

Senior center Justin Brown led the Eagles with 24 points and 16 rebounds. That’s his second consecutive double-double and his fourth in the last five games. Brown made 9-of-11 shots from the field and dropped in 6-of-10 free throw tries.

Junior forward Greg Emmons was also a terror on the boards, pulling down a career-best 13 missed shots. Earlier this season, Emmons had a pair of 12-rebound games.

Junior guard Rob McRae had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. AU also received 12 points from sophomore guard Brett Bartlett and 11 points from junior guard-forward Vahn Knight.

The Eagles never trailed in the contest, scoring the game’s first six points. A pair of McRae jumpers got the Eagles off and running. Five minutes into the game, the Eagles led, 13-3. AU had a 19-point lead, 36-17 with 2:41 left in the first half. The Eagles eventually settled for a 38-25 spread at halftime.

HC gamely fought back throughout the second half, but the Eagles never really lost control of the game. With 4:14 to play, Ashland was in front, 68-52. The Chargers got as close as four points twice, the last with 10 ticks left on the clock. A layup by Knight two seconds later extinguished any late HC comeback hopes.

Ashland shot 50 percent (16-of-32) from the field in the first half and ended the game at 47.5 percent (28-of-59). The Eagles shot 70 percent at the free throw line (14-of-20), much improved over Thursday night (51.5 percent).

Drew Powell and Tony Gugino shared top scoring honors for the Chargers with 15 points each. Jason Moore had 13 points and Cory Coe fired in 11 points.

The Eagles remain on the road next week, playing at Northwood and Saginaw Valley State. The game at Northwood is on Thursday (Jan. 19) with the SVSU date to follow on Saturday (Jan. 21).