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Oilers Run Away From
Eagles Men, 96-50 |
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Findlay guard Dustin Pfeifer has spent four seasons setting up everyone around him. Saturday (Feb. 25) at UF’s Croy Gym, he played his final regular-season home game and he set up, then knocked down, the Ashland University Eagles. Pfeifer, a former GLIAC freshman of the year had 10 points and nine assists as Findlay, ranked 10th in the country, shut down the Eagles, 96-50. Findlay is 24-3 and 15-2 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Oilers have won the GLIAC South Division title and will host the division’s fourth seed, Hillsdale, on Tuesday (Feb. 28). The Eagles are 18-9, 10-7 in the GLIAC. AU, the second place team from the South, will host third place Mercyhurst on Tuesday. Pfeifer, the lone senior on the UF roster, was recognized prior to tipoff Saturday and his list of accomplishments was recapped for everyone in attendance. Pfeifer’s game is built on steals, assists and directing the Oilers on the floor. He’s been as adept as an orchestra conductor throughout his career. He knows how to set the tempo and get everyone on his team going in the same direction – usually at full speed. Teams around the league won’t forget Pfeifer for quite some time. Hopefully for the Eagles, all memories from Saturday will be erased like a computer’s hard drive. The Oilers led, 17-3 with 12:50 to play in the first half, but AU, thanks in large part to senior center Justin Brown, rallied and got the margin down to 30-23 with 3:36 to play before the break. Brown had a double-double by the intermission, scoring 14 points and pulling down 10 boards. UF outscored the Eagles, 12-5 the rest of the half to take a 45-28 halftime lead. The Oilers opened the second half by burying the Eagles, 20-0 over the first 6:20. The Eagles didn’t get on the scoreboard until Brown dropped in a layup with 13:40 to play. Ashland was outscored in the second half, 51-22. Findlay shot 64.5 percent (20-31) from the floor during that time and connected on 4-of-8 three-point tries. Brown led the Eagles with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Junior center Matt Engler was the only other AU player to reach double digits in scoring – he had 10 points. The points came from just about every spot on the floor for the Oilers. Center Brent Schnipke was UF’s leading scorer with 15 points and forward Frank Phillips had 13. Forward Josh Bostic finished with 12 points and six rebounds and guard Dorian Bass had 11 points, as did Tyler Evans. The teams were even on the glass at 33 rebounds each. Ashland shot 38.8 percent (19-49) from the floor. The Eagles had 25 turnovers compared to nine for Findlay. The Oilers had a 35-10 edge in points off turnovers. The 50 points is a season low for AU. Saturday’s game marked the fourth time this season that Ashland, the GLIAC’s highest scoring team, was held below 60 points. Both teams cleared their benches midway through the second half. The score and a playoff game on Tuesday dictated that strategy. The loss snapped a two-game AU winning streak. |