On Mar. 6, the Ashland University men’s basketball team faced off against the Lake Erie College Storm in the semifinal round of the Great Midwest Tournament.  

In the contest, the Storm came out on top by one point, for a final score of 88-89. Throughout the game, both teams combined for an incredible 63 personal fouls. This mark left seven out of the nine Eagles to play with four or more fouls. 

In the first half, Ashland grabbed the lead early, and both teams battled to keep the point differential between four and eight points for the length of the first twenty minutes. At halftime, the Eagles led 45-41. 

The second half started just the way Ashland wanted it to. The Eagles came out and scored a few buckets, growing their lead to their largest of the game in 14 points. 

With only 10 minutes to play, Ashland still lead by 12 points, but this is where Lake Erie turned up their play. The Storm would go on to draw multiple fouls, and use the free throw line to claw back in the game. 

After a few late lead changes, the score was level at 88-88 with 17 seconds left to play. 12 seconds later a foul by Eagle freshman guard Jason Henlon put the Storm at the line.  

With one made free throw, Lake Erie led by one. With one more chance, the Eagles had the ball with five seconds left. Redshirt freshman guard Jordan Edwards got the inbound, and ran it from coast to coast, however his layup was blocked. A late put back attempt by redshirt senior forward Maceo Williams was not good past the buzzer.  

Williams led the way for the Eagles. He scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Ashland drops to a 20-10 record, as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament. Their next matchup will be on Mar. 14, when the Eagles travel to play Grand Valley State.