The 25th ranked Eagles looked to get their sixth win in a row on Saturday when they hosted Malone. 

Ashland went into the matchup with a far superior record at 18-4 compared to Malone’s 5-16, but that did not mean the Eagles had an easy victory on their hands.

Instead, it was a back-and-forth battle with AU sneaking out a 65-63 victory over the Pioneers.

“Malone’s a good team,” said head coach John Ellenwood. “I know their record is not great, but they’ve won two out of their last three. They got a lot of heart and I’ll give those guys a lot of credit for sticking with it. Those guys play with a lot of intensity and that was one of those games that I’m really glad it’s over with.”

Ashland didn’t help themselves as the team did not shoot well, especially from the free throw line, only making 47.6 percent of their free throws.

“We had a lot of open looks that we just didn’t hit,” said Ellenwood. “Guys that normally hit them, just didn’t today. That’s something we have to work on. The bottom line is our defense was there when it needed to be.”

It was an important win for AU, as it clinched them a spot in the GLIAC tournament.

“That’s one of our goals, to get in this tournament,” said Ellenwood. “We got to keep going forward right now. This time of year it is not how you win, its if you win and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”

It was a close game the whole way through with the largest lead at any point in the game being eight.

With 11.7 seconds left in the game, Ashland was holding on to a lead of one, until redshirt-junior Torin Wetzel hit a three to give the Eagles a 64-60 lead. Wetzel was 0-4 from behind the arc before the shot.

“I was proud of (Wetzel) because he’s got to shoot, he’s a great shooter,” said Ellenwood. “That’s what he does. He’s a weapon for us out there. He hit one shot today and it was a game winner. He’s a shooter and the next one is going in, that’s our attitude with him all the time.”

The player that AU had to try to shut down to win was senior center Brain Stone. The six-foot-eight Stone went into the game leading the GLIAC in field goal shooting percentage at 73.4%. Stone finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

“Stone is unbelievable at rebounding and he’s a senior and he’s a beast,” said Ellenwood. “He’s tough to stop. I thought our guys did a good job of executing, especially the last nine minutes we really dug in. That started with Mike Hundley and that defensive presence coming off that time out.”

Hundley knows, as a senior, he doesn’t have many games left and is leaving it all on the court.

“It’s my senior season and the year is coming to an end, so I’m going out and playing as hard as I can,” said Hundley. “My teammates have my back on defense. We’re a very confident group. Everybody loves each other. This is the most team oriented group since I’ve been here.”

Malone’s Mitchell Spotelson and Stephen O’Dainel III both scored 12 and Jay Parker gave 11 off the bench.

The leading scorer for Ashland was Adrian Cook, who put up 17 points. Cook showed his confidence on the court and drove to the basket to score on several occasions.

“I just have to be aggressive and control the game as the point guard,” said Cook. “We’re well prepared for close games. We don’t really panic in those situations.”

Wendell Davis and Marsalis Hamilton also pitched in double-digit points with 11 and ten respectively.

The next game on the schedule for the Eagles is a home game against Findlay on Thursday at 7:30.