Ashland University men's basketball to host three Great Midwest games in five days
Ashland University's men's basketball team will play three Great Midwest Athletic Conference games in a five-day span at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
The Eagles will play host to Ohio Dominican at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Cedarville at 3 p.m. Saturday and Trevecca Nazarene at 4 p.m. Monday.
AU begins the new week one game out of first place in the loss column in the Great Midwest standings and as one of six teams with either two or three losses in league play.
A 77-54 road victory on Dec. 2 gave Ashland four consecutive wins and improved its all-time record to 32-3 against the Panthers, who entered the week having lost three of four games so far in the new year. Ohio Dominican is led by junior guard Alek West (13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists), junior guard Sean Marks (13.2 points, 85.3 FT%) and sophomore guard Zach Szul (11.1 points, 91.3 FT%, 4.0 rebounds).
The Eagles fell to 36-10 all-time against the Yellow Jackets with Cedarville's 74-71 home win on Dec. 4. Cedarville came into the new week having won four of its last six games. Senior guard Branden Maughmer is one of the Great Midwest's top players, averaging 18.0 points and 6.6 rebounds and shooting 49.1% from the field and 84.5% from the free-throw line.
Ashland and Trevecca Nazarene will play each other on the hardwood for the first time. Trevecca Nazarene lost 10 of its last 11 games before the week began. Senior forward C.J. Penha is the Trojans' leader, averaging a double-double (20.8 points, 10.7 rebounds) and playing 35.9 minutes per game.
Ellenwood recaps two more close games
Ashland continues to play games that go down to the wire, as six of the Eagles' 14 games so far have been decided by five points or less.
More: 'It was a hard-fought game': Ashland University men's hoops suffers tough loss to Findlay
"You held (down) two teams that shoot really good percentages and score a lot of points. We did a great job defensively," said Ashland coach John Ellenwood. "We came away with a great victory there (at Hillsdale). Unfortunately, on Saturday, we probably played better throughout the game overall, but we didn't hit some shots and missed some free throws.
"Our guys battled hard. We did the job defensively to win the game."
Thompson and Aulger, side by side
Larry Aulger is the only player in Ashland men's basketball history to grab at least 1,000 career rebounds. Senior forward Aaron Thompson is 36 boards away from becoming the second. When Thompson joins the 1,000-rebound club, he also will join Aulger as the only Eagles in the 1,000-1,000 (points-rebounds) club.
Eagles continue to defend the arc well
Ashland has allowed teams to make just 28.9% from beyond the 3-point line — good enough to be ranked in the top 20 (tied for 17th) in NCAA Division II.
"There's an emphasis on the 3-point shot. That's why our line keeps moving back," Ellenwood said. "We've got to make it tougher for teams, take those shots away."
Haraway a key for strong second half
Junior guard Brandon Haraway is averaging 11.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He missed two games earlier in the season and could be primed for a second half like he had last year, when he was one of the top players in the Midwest Region.
"You can see him coming on and getting back to where we need him to be," Ellenwood said. "He's such an instrumental part of our success. He's such a competitor and such a high-intelligence player."
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland U men's hoops to host three G-MAC games in five days
