Basketball is back in Kate’s gymnasium and the Ashland University men’s basketball team (2-0)  pulled off a hard fought 66-60 win against Ohio Dominican (1-1) on Saturday.

After a convincing win at Lake Erie on Friday, the Eagles were tested early as the Panthers got off to an 8-0 run to start the game.

The Eagles did not get on the board until 15:31 with a Ryan Batte free throw. A lid was on the basket early for the home team as they struggled to generate offense.

“I honestly thought we were lucky to be in it in the first half,” Head coach John Ellenwood said.

Ashland struggled getting the ball into the paint to their massive forward Derek Koch and his counterpart, center Drew Noble. Koch had two turnovers and was 0-4 in the first five minutes of game, but fought hard to corral rebounds, registering four in the first half.

Koch and Noble combined for 2-10 shooting in the first half leading the offense to go in a different direction.

“Last game we did a really good job of establishing an inside game and attacking them down low and today that wasn’t there,” Ellenwood said.

Defensively, Ohio Dominican took advantage of inefficient rotations to cash in several uncontested shots and take an early lead. The Panthers also grabbed five more rebounds than the Eagles in the first half with 20.

“If you’re going to be a great defensive team you better know how to move in space better and cover more spots,” Ellenwood said.

Ohio Dominican ended the half up 33-21 and had all the momentum going into the second half.

“We had some guys that were really playing not to their level and were jittery once we got to halftime,” Ellenwood said, “I think we understood, you know, we have to win a few more 50-50 balls, we had to get tougher on the rebounding.”

Ashland relied on spacing the floor and dribble-drive penetration to create points in the second half by relying on guards Rodrick Caldwell, Aaron Thompson, and Ben Haraway.

Caldwell used his favorite move, the crossover, to create space and knock down contested jumpshots that would sway the momentum in the game.

The second half started off with a 7-0 run by Ashland with five of those points coming from Caldwell.

“Coach Ellenwood said just have confidence in yourself and be you, so when I’m out there I’m not trying to look to do this or do this, I’m just trying to play my game and get the win for my team,” Caldwell said.

While Caldwell heated up the motor offensively, guard Aaron Thompson kept it running defensively for Ashland by tipping passes, grabbing rebounds, and jumping with potential scorers to enforce more difficult shots.

Ellenwood wanted to withhold the impact of the Panther’s primary options on offensive: forward Hasan Varence and guard Sam Hickey.

Verance and Hickey were both coming off of 27 point performances against Wayne State on Friday and the Eagles held them to a combined total of 17 points throughout the entire contest.

“If you’re going to beat somebody you have to take away their first options and those two are their first options,” Ellenwood said.

Three point shooting has been a struggle for Ashland, so far the team is shooting 24.1 percent from behind the arc through the first 80 minutes of the season.

“We’ve got to establish that balance of inside-outside,” Ellenwood said, “like football you have to have a running and a passing game.”

However, outside shots proved to be vital for the Eagles when Ben Haraway hit a triple with 5:43 remaining giving the Eagles their first lead at 51-50, and another triple in the corner pocket for Phil Frenstos with 3:36 on the clock pushed the score to 55-52 furthering a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game.

A clutch layup and free throw from Aaron Thompson and a mid-range jumpshot from Drew Noble put the pressure on Ohio Dominican who resulted to fouling in order to preserve time on the clock.

Four free throws by Caldwell sealed the deal as the Eagles were able to complete the comeback and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Ellenwood leaned on Caldwell in the second half to ignite a stagnant offense and his experienced playing in big games as the Division I level made him ready for the moment.

“That kid has made some big shots in his career and he’s not scared of it, and as a coach it would be wrong of me to make him scared of anything,”

Caldwell was scary, as he finished with 22 points on 7-12 shooting and while Thompson scored 10 points and snatched six rebounds.

Although Drew Noble did not dominate scoring wise in the paint, he was able to contribute all around for the Eagles and set up open looks as he accounted for six assists and seven rebounds.

The Panthers continued to out rebound the Eagles, but finished under 40 percent from the field and will look to rebound from the loss against Shawnee St. next Friday.

Ellenwood said his team needs to improve on ball movement, figure out their offensive identity, and limit the amount of offense rebounds given up.

However, he knows the youth of his team has played a role in their enigmatic offense.

“We’re a young offense in terms of figuring ourselves out right now and it’s going to take time,” Ellenwood said.

Ashland has time to clean up their mistakes before Ohio Christian comes to town in four days. The Eagles will square off against the Trailblazers on Thursday, November 15 in Kate’s Gymnasium at 7 p.m.