If you told men’s basketball coach John Ellenwood at the beginning of the season that his team would end just one game above .500, he would have been disappointed.

Now, after a season of major ups and downs, Ellenwood says he is happy with the fight his team showed all season long.

“It wasn’t the dream season we wanted,” Ellenwood said, “but the way we finished up, I was happy.”

AU finished with a 13-12 overall record (11-11 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and placed ninth in the conference standings, just one position away from earning a playoff berth.

The Eagles started the season 5-11 and at that point it looked as if the entire season would be a train wreck. A season-ending injury to sophomore Ben Mixer before the season even started, nagging injuries to senior Ronnie Steward throughout the season and some personal issues that resulted in junior Jordan Berlin leaving the team all added to the distraction of a subpar year for the Eagles.

AU was able to turn things around in the second half of the season by winning eight of its last nine games, and had a legitimate shot at sneaking in to the GLIAC tournament.

“This team got focused and took care of business,” Ellenwood said. “We had bigger plans that we didn’t get done due to injuries and different situations that came up, but our guys dealt with the adversity and overcame it and finished well this year. I’m proud of our guys.”

The Eagles’ final three games were home against Ohio Dominican and on the road versus Tiffin and Lake Erie.

Ohio Dominican (4-21, 1-19)

In their final home game of the season, the Eagles avenged a loss earlier in the season to Ohio Dominican with an 84-71 win.

Senior forward Evan Yates led the way for the Eagles, scoring 30 points and hauling in 11 rebounds in his final home game in an AU uniform.

The Eagles trailed 31-30 at halftime, but a combination of 3-point shooting and a strong inside presence in Yates brought AU back and sealed the win in a dominant second-half performance.

Ashland shot 65.4 percent in the second half including 62.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Eagles made 5 of 7 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.

The Panthers wouldn’t go away quietly thanks to the efforts of Morgan Jones, who hit several big “3s” to match the Eagles in the second half and finished with 18 points.

Ultimately though, Yates proved to be too much for the Panthers to handle as he scored 17 of his game-high 30 in the second half to seal the win for the Eagles.

Junior Brook Turson finished with 16 points on 4 of 5 shooting for Ashland.

At Tiffin (10-16, 7-13)

Ashland started its two game road trip to finish the season with a stop at Tiffin. The Eagles continued their winning ways with an 80-72 win over the Dragons.

Four of Ashland’s five starters had double-digit efforts in the win.

Sophomore Cole Krizancic got the Eagles started by scoring the team’s first eight points. He finished with 13, including three 3-point field goals.

Ashland’s offense proved very efficient in just their second road win of the season as the Eagles shot 58.1 percent from the field for the game.

The Dragons’ Joe Graessle kept his team in the game with a game-high 33 points, but even that wasn’t enough to overcome Ashland’s balanced and efficient offensive game plan.

Junior Will Evans led the Eagles in points with 18 and Turson had 14. Yates chipped in with 11 points and a team-high five rebounds and sophomore DaWuan Thomas had nine points.

At Lake Erie (8-18, 5-17)

The Eagles stood just one game out of eighth spot in the GLIAC standings when they went to Lake Erie to end the regular season.

The result at Lake Erie was a good one, a 64-53 win over the Storm.

The Eagles had another balanced offensive performance from multiple players. Four of the five Ashland starters had 14 or more points in the game.

Ashland led 31-26 at halftime and had a 46-30 advantage with under 15 minutes to play, but the Storm would came roaring back to cut Ashland’s lead to 54-53 with just under four minutes to go in regulation.

Krizancic would hit a 3-pointer after a timeout and that sparked a 10-0 run for the Eagles to finish the game.

The win marked the Eagles’ third road victory of the season, bringing their road record at 3-9 for the season. AU finished 10-3 at home for the year.

Evans led the Eagles with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Yates had 16 points and five rebounds. Krizancic and DaWaun Thomas each finished with 14 points.

Lake Erie was led by Riley Thomas, who had 16 points and three assists.

After the win, all the Eagles could do was wait to see if they could make the GLIAC tournament.

They needed losses by Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State to earn the eighth seed. That turned out to be not as good of a result for the Eagles.

Saginaw Valley State did lose to Northwood, 86-72, but Lake Superior State won a hard-fought battle at home against Wayne State, 72-70, and secured the final playoff position in the conference.