Last season the Ashland University Men’s basketball team had two wins away from Kates Gymnasium all season. 

The 2014-15 squad picked up two wins away from campus on the first weekend of the regular season.

AU knocked off defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) champion Alderson-Broaddus and Cedarville at the Third Annual Cedarville University Don Callan Classic.

Sixth year head coach John Ellenwood took notice of his team’s performance on the opening weekend, saying, “I was impressed with the amount of fight we showed. After this weekend we can set the standards pretty high and hopefully we can live up to that standard every game.” 

The Eagles kicked off their 2014-15 campaign in Cedarville, Ohio against the defending GMAC champions Alderson-Broaddus. 

Ashland trailed for exactly 21 seconds in the game, as after a Thylas Perkins three pointer gave the Battlers a 3-2 advantage, a pair of Wendell Davis free throws put the Eagles in front for good.

After Alderson-Broaddus briefly tied the game at 8, AU responded with a 13-0 run. Three buckets from behind the arc from three different Eagles powered the spurt. 

Ashland went into the halftime break in complete control, holding 39-23 advantage. 

The second half was the same story for AU, as they shutdown the Battlers offense and ran away with a 77-44 victory. 

The Eagle defense smothered the Alderson-Broaddus attack, allowing the GMAC squad to shoot an abysmal 32 percent from the field. 

On the other end of the court, the Ashland offense was clicking on all cylinders, shooting 54 percent from the floor and an even 50 percent from deep. 

Ashland was helped by a strong performance from their bench, as the reserves chipped in 38 points. Leading the way off the pine was sophomore swingman Jett Speelman who poured in a career high 14 points. 

Ellenwood said, “Our bench was very good for us. They didn’t allow the energy to slip when certain guys came off the court.” 

Ellenwood credited the energy level for the high level of defensive play, “Playing good defense has to do with energy and awareness. Having not seen Alderson-Broaddus before we weren’t always sure what they were going to be doing but our guys fought through those situations using great awareness.” 

The following night AU was back out on the court, facing the Yellow Jackets of Cedarville.

AU in its first true road test, facing the Yellow Jackets on their home court, proved they were up to the task. 

Ashland got out to a great start in the first half and went to the locker room with a 15-point lead over the Yellow Jackets, 36-21. 

Ashland maintained the edge all the way to the finish line, knocking off Cedarville 75-60 to improve to 2-0.

 “To go into a tough environment, a place with a student section unlike anything else you see at division two, and come away with a win I was really impressed with our team,” said Ellenwood.

He added, “Our guys did a great job of not letting their crowd get involved. They kept Cedarville far enough away the entire game, that it was kind of boring game, which is a great thing to have on the road.” 

Ashland continued its smothering defense, allowing the Yellow Jackets to only shoot 35 percent from the field on the evening. 

Leading the way for Ashland offense was Wendell Davis, as the sophomore forward pumped in 25 points. Forward Marsilas Hamilton, a freshman out of St. Edward, added 18 points and eight boards in 30 minutes of the bench. 

“Wendell and Marsilas both had tremendous weekends for us,” Ellenwood said.

For an Ashland team that was picked fifth in the GLIAC southern division pre-season poll, Coach Ellenwood has high expectations.

“Our first objective is to get better each day. But beyond that the first thing we want to do is make the conference tournament, second is to win the league tournament and lastly make the NCAA tournament.” 

The team features a nice combination of experience and youth with four seniors leading the way. Wendell Davis and senior guard Dawaun Thomas were named second team All-GLIAC in the preseason. 

The Eagles, which enter 2014-15 off an11-15 campaign last season, look forward to three games in a six-day stretch before the thanksgiving break. 

Ellenwood said, “Every game at this point in the season is important for us. We need to keep improving and use the games to get better to be ready once we hit the conference part of our schedule.”