The Ashland University men’s basketball team trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half of their Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Wayne State Jan. 23.

AU (14-4, 8-4 GLIAC) outscored the Wariors 39-27 in the second half, leading them to a 68-61 victory.

Men’s head coach John Ellenwood said that after his team settled in, and adjusted to the Warriors team speed, they were able to take control of the game.

Ashland trailed 43-36 at the first media timeout of the second half, before going on a 9-1 run to take a 45-44 lead.

The Eagles pushed their lead to 46-44 following an Adrian Cook free throw. A successful jump shot by Wayne State’s Clark Bishop tied the game up at 46-46.

Torin Wetzel then hit his second 3-pointer of the game to put the Eagles back ahead 49-46.

Wayne State continued to hang around, trailing 66-61 with 32 seconds left. The Warriors would miss their last three shots, while the Eagles closed out the game from the free-throw line.

Defense proved to be the difference for the Eagles on the afternoon, as they held the Warriors (3-12, 3-9 GLIAC) to 29.9-percent shooting.

Limiting second chance opportunities in the second half was key for the Eagles.

“They’re a really good rebounding team,” said Ellenwood. “We did a better job in the second half of not letting them score off offensive rebounds.”

Michael Hundley led the defensive effort for Ashland, blocking a school-record eight shots. He also added 11 points and four rebounds.

Ellenwood said that Hundley’s presence in the paint contributed toward eliminating some of the second chance opportunities.

“When you have a great shot blocker like that down low, you always have that in your mind that ‘this guy could be coming in there to block my shots,’” said Ellenwood.

Ashland played more zone defense in the second half than they did in the first half, which Ellenwood believes frustrated Wayne State offensively.

“Our guys did a good job of communicating in the zone and frustrating them in terms of the shot selection that they were taking,” said Ellenwood.

Wendell Davis and Boo Osborne chipped in a team-high 13 points apiece. Cook finished with 11.

Ashland finished with four players in double-figures. Ellenwood said that they will need that type of balance going forward to continue being successful in scoring the ball.

Next on the schedule for the Eagles is a home contest Thursday versus Ohio Dominican (7-11, 4-8 GLIAC).

A matchup to keep an eye on in this game is the guard play from Ohio Dominican.

“They’re going to be a good matchup for us in terms of trying to take away the three-pointer,” said Ellenwood. “They have some good guards that can create their own shot, as well as shots for others.”

Ellenwood added that some of the keys for Ashland in this game is to limit the amount of uncontested looks that the Panthers get from the three-point line, box out on the defensive end and try to get some easy points in transition.

The men will tip off on Thursday at 7:30 following the women who will begin at 5:30.