In the opening round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament, the No. 3 seed Ashland University men’s basketball team traveled to the University of Indianapolis to take on the No. 6 seed Ferris State Bulldogs.

Both teams got out to a slow start in the early going with the score being just 3-3 four minutes into the ball game.

The Bulldogs would start to get things rolling in the final 16 minutes of the first half going into the halftime break up 40-29.

Coming off the bench for Ferris State, Soloman Oraegbu had 19 points at the halftime break, ahead of his season average of 18.

The Eagles cut the lead to as little as 6 out of the halftime break in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. 

After having just one point at the halftime break, Victor Searls came storming out of the locker room scoring two straight buckets including a converted and one.

The Eagles kept making the game closer and closer in the second half, cutting the lead down to a one-possession ball game multiple times in the final four minutes but never taking the lead. 

In the final moments, a charge on redshirt sophomore forward Maceo Williams proved to be the deciding factor, as the turnover put the Eagles out of the game.

Graduate Student transfer James Manns made a half-court heave at the final buzzer, but it didn’t matter the Eagles still trailed with triple zeros on the game clock.

Final stats:

Simon Wheeler: 19 points, 4 assists

James Manns: 15 points, 7 rebounds

Brandon Haraway: 9 points, 4-10 FG

The Eagles end the 2022-23 campaign with a record of 22-10 and a GMAC championship and look toward next season where they return 4 out of 5 starters.