The Ashland University Eagles Men’s Basketball team combined clutch shooting along with a dominating second half performance by Redshirt Junior Guard Ben Haraway to propel the Eagles (13-3, 6-2 GLIAC) to their eighth-straight win in a match against the Grand Valley State Lakers (8-8, 3-5 GLIAC).

“Our guys found a way,” Eagles Head Coach John Ellenwood said “we gutted out a win against a great team.”

With 34 seconds on the clock, game locked at 80-80, Ben Haraway drove hard to the basket with bad intentions causing the Lakers defense to collapse, meanwhile, Redshirt Senior Standout Forward Wendall Davis awaits a pass from Haraway that would give him a clear shot to put the Eagles ahead.

Instinctively, Haraway keeps his eyes up and fires a pass to Davis who knocked down the shot that gave the Eagles the upper hand.

On the ensuing possession for Grand Valley, Freshman Forward Jake Van Tubbergen worked his way to the basket, only to miss a floater that led to a rebound by Redshirt Freshman Guard Aaron Thompson, a desperation foul by GVSU, and two free throws for Thompson.

Within the final 21 seconds of the game the same sequence occurred 3 times in a row: Thompson rebound, Lakers fouls to conserve clock, and Thompson shoots two free throws.

Thompson ended the night 8-8 from the free throw line despite shooting only 42 percent coming in.

“I think mostly it was just a confidence issue,” Thompson said “coming into the season I didn’t even know I was going to be starting, and coming into that role I think I was just in my head about it.”

The Grand Valley State Lakers put Ashland’s defense on their heels the entire game through the shooting from Guards Myles Miller and Hunter Hale.

“They were hitting a lot of tough shots,” Thompson said “we were playing solid, good defense but they were hot.”

Hale hit a three on the left wing to tie the game at 80 with 59 seconds on the clock.

He would end up finishing the game with 21 points.

The front runner of the night for GVSU was Miller, who shot 12-19 from the field and 3-5 from 3-point range for 27 points.
The Eagles rotated Thompson and Haraway on the Laker guard throughout the night, but there was no answer for his mid-range jump shot.

“We went zone a few times to and switched up guarding assignments which made them have to think about what they were going to do offensively,” Thompson said “I think all around it was just a great team effort to pull out a tough win.”

GVSU’s ability to knock down contested and open jump shot kept them in the contest and really took advantage of Ellenwood’s defense of strategy that limits dribble penetration, but prompts teams for open 3-point looks.

The Eagles came into the match holding opponents to nearly 31 percent from the 3-point mark, a statistic that leads the conference.

The Lakers challenged that stat by shooting 52 percent from deep, but the stellar offensive play by the top 3 leading scores for the Eagles kept them in control for most of the night.

Sensational Sophomore Center Drew Noble put on a show scoring his second 20-point game in a row, 16 of which game in the first half.

He also had a team high of eight rebounds.

Where Noble left off in the first half, Haraway and Davis picked up in the second, the duo scored 28 of their combined 42 points in the second half.

Other notable performances came from Senior Forward Marsalis Hamilton who used his size to split through Laker defenders and add 12 points to the score board along with five rebounds and two blocks.

The Eagles stay atop the GLIAC South and move on to their next challenge against Purdue Northwest (1-15, 1-7 GLIAC) Saturday (Jan. 13) at 3 p.m. in Kates Gymnasium.