Opening Tip
Ashland University's men's basketball team already has qualified for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament for the third year in a row.
The Eagles (16-9 overall, 11-8 GLIAC) go into the 2016-17 regular-season finale on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Kates Gymnasium vs. Tiffin (11-16, 6-13) with the opportunity to play host to a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal for the second consecutive season.
Ashland's formula to host a first-round conference tourney game on Feb. 28 is an easy one, even if the execution isn't. An Eagle win over the Dragons, coupled with losses by at least three of the four teams (Lake Superior State, Wayne State, Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech) tied in the No. 3-6 spots going into the last week of the regular season, gives AU a quarterfinal game at "The Kates."
The Eagles are 9-3 at home this season, have won six home games in a row and are 35-9 (.795) at Kates Gymnasium over the last three seasons.
Eagles On The Air
- This week's game will be aired live on WNCO-AM 1340, with Marty Bannister on the call.
- This week's game will be aired live on WRDL-FM 88.9.
- All GLIAC home regular-season games will be aired on tape delay on SportsTime Ohio.
- Head coach John Ellenwood appears on "The Early Bird's Word" on WRDL every Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. during the season.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Ashland is coming off a split home-road week where it won at home against Walsh, 78-69, on Feb. 16, and lost at Findlay, 85-65, on Feb. 18.
"We beat a good opponent at home," Ellenwood said. "We had a great first half in that game. I thought our second half was very average, and I thought that carried over in the Findlay game."
In the first meeting of the season against the Dragons on the road on Jan. 30, the Eagles won, 85-74, for their seventh consecutive victory. Senior guard Boo Osborne scored his 1,000th career point in the game, and scored 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from 3-point range.
Ashland shot 62.7 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from beyond the arc in the victory.
"They're good," Ellenwood said. "They have some athletes. They're a very athletic team. This is their last game of the year, so they'll want to play. It's something where we're going to have to be ready for a lot of different types of defenses, and they have some guys who can go off on you.
"We're going to get a lot of effort out of those guys."
All-time, the Eagles are 32-6 against the Dragons.
Going forward, Ashland will play a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal on Feb. 28 at a venue and time to be determined, and against an opponent yet to be determined. It is the Eagles' third straight conference tournament appearance and 13th in their 22 seasons in the GLIAC.
Ashland can finish anywhere from No. 3 to No. 8 in the conference.
"The bottom line is win, and take care of what you can control," Ellenwood said. "It's a fun time of year. Thursday night, we'll play our best and we will be looking at the scoreboard and the standings afterward. We have to take care of this last game."
AU Quartet To Be Honored On Senior Night
Ashland's four graduating seniors - Osborne, guard Adrian Cook and forwards Torin Wetzel and Michael Cain - will be honored prior to the regular-season finale against the Dragons.
"Our success is based on our players' success," said Ellenwood. "We have four guys that have dedicated themselves to this program and have dreamed big and accomplished those dreams. Those guys won a conference championship, and not many people that have gone through the Ashland men's basketball program have said they were able to do that.
"They've basically put us on the map, or reestablished us on the map."
Cook is Ashland's leading scorer at 13.9 points per game, while adding 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while Osborne is at 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per night. Wetzel is having his best season as an Eagle at 6.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, and Cain has seen action in four varsity games this season, going for five points and two rebounds on Nov. 19 at home against Wilberforce.
Spreading The Wealth Offensively
Without injured senior forward Wendell Davis for the season, the Eagles have emphasized balanced offense and more passing. In the first 25 games of 2016-17, all nine of Ashland's regulars are averaging at least 4.7 points per game, with three going for double figures per contest.
A breakdown of Ashland's double-digit scoring games this season follows:
|
NAME |
10+-POINT GAMES |
|
19 |
|
|
15 |
|
|
13 |
|
|
7 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
2 |
Ashland is averaging 15.0 assists per game, 2.8 per game more than a season ago, and good for sixth in the GLIAC. The Eagles have recorded at least 15 helpers in a game 13 times this season.
Launching – And Hitting – From Downtown
The Eagles have had four games with at least 10 made triples over the last eight outings, and the team's 3-point field-goal percentage has risen over that span:
|
TIME PERIOD |
3FGM |
3FGA |
3FG% |
|
First 17 games |
126 |
328 |
38.4 |
|
Last 8 games |
76 |
161 |
47.2 |
Ashland is second in the conference with a percentage of 41.3 from beyond the arc. That percentage also is tied for 13th-best in NCAA Division II through Feb. 20.
Wetzel is third in the conference in 3-point percentage at 46.9.
AU Continues To Find Ways On The Road
The Eagles are 7-6 in road/neutral-site games in 2016-17, assuring them of a third consecutive .500-or-better season away from Kates Gymnasium:
|
SEASON |
W-L RECORD AWAY FROM HOME |
|
2016-17 |
7-6 |
|
2015-16 |
11-3 |
|
2014-15 |
7-7 |
Ellenwood Cements Place In AU History
Now in his eighth season, Ellenwood resides among the most successful head coaches in Ashland men's basketball history:
|
NAME |
WINS |
|
Roger Lyons |
246 |
|
Bill Musselman |
129 |
|
John Ellenwood |
125 |
|
NAME |
GAMES COACHED |
|
Roger Lyons |
439 |
|
John Ellenwood |
217 |
|
Bill Musselman |
159 |
|
NAME |
SEASONS COACHED |
|
Roger Lyons |
16 |
|
John Ellenwood |
7½+ |
|
George Donges |
7½ |
At home against Walsh, Ellenwood became just the third head coach in the 97 seasons of Ashland men's basketball to win 125 games.
AU
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