Grenadiers Too Much, End Eagles Season
Box Score | Final Season Stats
Frankfort, Ky. - Asbury couldn't overcome a first half hole as their season ended on Friday night at the hands of Indiana Southeast 106-85 in the semi-finals of the KIAC Tournament. This is the third straight year IUS (24-4) has knocked Asbury (15-17) out of the tournament.
The Eagles couldn't hang with the Grenadiers early on as IUS jumped out to an 11 point lead in the first three minutes, it would never get any closer. Asbury shot the ball well 46% for the game but turned the ball over 25 times as IUS turned up the full court pressure all night long. The Grenadiers shot 54% from the floor and knocked down eight-of-15 threes in the first half.
Phillip Morrison (Louisville, Ky.) led the Eagles all night long with 32 points on seven-of-14 shooting. The junior guard hit five-of-eight threes and 13-of-14 from the foul line. For the game Asbury hit 31-of-37 free throws. Adam Delph (Louisville, Ky.) did most of his damage from the foul line as well as hit knocked down all 10 attempts and finished with 16 points.
Indiana Southeast pushed their 59-36 halftime lead to as much as 31 in the second half before Asbury would rally and cut it down to 14. The Eagles were helped out as IUS hit on only 3-of-11 three point shots in the second half and Asbury cut their turnovers from 15 in the first half to 10 in the second.
Asbury kept pace on the boards with each team pulling down 32. Senior Brian Johnson pulled down a team high eight in his final game in an Asbury uniform, he added 10 points. Fellow senior Don Witt added 10 points off the bench, as Cory Britt (five points) and Daniel Drury (one point) also ended their Asbury careers.
Phillip Morrison's season total of 663 points is the fifth highest total in school history and he heads into his senior year ninth on the all-time scoring list. Morrison has a chance of reaching the third spot on the list, he is 577 points behind Art McMahon for third. His career average of 17.9 points per game is fourth all-time. Morrison was named to the All-KIAC Team after his performance this season.
Asbury finishes below .500 for the first time in ten years. The 1999-2000 team was the last to finish below the mark with an 18-19 record. The very next year, 2000-2001 was the first team to finish with more wins than losses in school history. Next season Asbury will tip-off for their 20th season of basketball.
