Just a few weeks ago, the Ashland University men’s basketball team was sitting near the bottom of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South standings with just one win in conference play.

Now, after picking up two wins this past week, the Eagles (6-6, 3-5) are just two games out of the eighth and final GLIAC playoff position with a lot of basketball to be played. 

Head coach John Ellenwood knows that there is still work to be done to reach the tournament. 

“Every game feels like a must win,” said Ellenwood. “There are a lot of teams that are right there but no one has pulled away. We need to make sure we are in that hunt.”

One way the Eagles can remain in the hunt is their ability to defend home court. Ashland is now 6-1 when playing at Kate’s Gymnasium and has a total of seven home games remaining this season.

Ashland’s most recent home victories came this past week when the Eagles defeated Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech.

Northern Michigan, 72-56

Ashland was able to defeat Northern Michigan by 16 points last Thursday night largely thanks to the offensive efforts of junior forward Paul Honigford and also a stout defensive night as a team.

Honigford scored a career-high 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting and the Eagles held the Wildcats (3-9, 2-6) to just 19 of 52 (36.5 percent) shooting on their way to the convincing victory.

“We had a balanced attack,” said Ellenwood. “Paul [Honigford] found his opportunities in our offense and he really stepped up.”

Ashland seemed to be in a dogfight with Northern Michigan going into halftime leading just 30-28. The Eagles came out lighting up the scoreboard in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 42-28.

“I went into halftime talking about having a ‘desperate’ effort for the second half,” Ellenwood said. “I thought out guys responded well.”

In addition to Honigford’s 20 points, junior guard DaWaun Thomas had 13 points and four assists. 

Freshman guard Boo Osborne had 11 points for Ashland, all of which came in the second half. 

Justin Newell was Northern Michigan’s leading scorer with 15 points. 

Michigan Tech, 71-70

Ashland’s game against Michigan Tech on Saturday proved to be a much closer affair than their last contest. 

A DaWaun Thomas layup with 10 seconds remaining and a block by senior forward Will Evans as time expired helped the Eagles win by one against the Huskies (9-3, 5-3).

 After the first half of play it looked as if Ashland wouldn’t need to have big plays in final seconds to win the game. The Eagles led 45-32 and were dominating on both ends of the floor.

“We needed to have a first half like we did to beat those guys,” Ellenwood said. “We knew in the second half that they were going to get a lot more aggressive.”

That aggressiveness came from the nation’s leading scoring duo Austin Armga and Ben Stelzer. Armga went into the game averaging 25.5 points per game and ended up scoring his average, leading all scorers with 25 points. Stelzer added 15 points.

Michigan Tech made a furious comeback in the second half and led 70-66 with under a minute to play. That’s when the game took a quick turn back in Ashland’s favor.

Freshmen guard Boo Osborne hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to pull Ashland within one. Then after a Huskies turnover, the ball was in the hands of

Thomas.

“I saw that they had switched a big man on me,” Thomas said. “Then I saw that Will [Evans] had pinned his man and opened the lane. That gave me the attack and thankfully I made the shot.”

The Eagles took the 71-70 lead with 10 seconds remaining, giving Michigan Tech a chance to win the game on the other end. The Huskies were unable to get a shot off, however, as Will Evans blocked Stelzer’s shot as the buzzer sounded.

Thomas had a team-high 20 points for the Eagles including three 3-pointers. 

“[Thomas] really found his stroke today and we needed that,” Ellenwood said.

Thomas was also guarding either Armga or Stelzer for most of the game, a challenge that he is always looking forward to.

“My teammates have confidence in me to guard top players from the other team and then create on offense as well,” Thomas said. “Whatever it takes to win.”

Ashland’s next two games will also be at home. The Eagles will play on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. against Walsh, then on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Malone.