Asbury blows out Cincinnati Christian

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Asbury’s men bounced back from a embarrassing conference opening loss to Indiana East with an eerily similar game against Cincinnati Christian on Thursday.  This time the Eagles came away with the blowout victory 84-59.  Asbury opened the game on a 17-0 run that set the tone for the game.

CCU didn’t record their first field goal until the 14:53 mark and didn’t make their second until 8:44 remained in the first half.  At that point Asbury had opened a 31-8 lead.  The Eagles pushed their lead to 29 in the first half as Phillip Morrison went off.

The senior guard from Louisville scored 21 of his game-high 25 in the first half on 8-of-11 shooting.  Morrison also grabbed six of his eight rebounds before intermission.  Adam Delph would add 10 of his 16 points in the first half as the Eagles grabbed a 53-27 halftime lead.

Asbury shot 61% from the floor in the first half and held CCU to only 18%.  The Golden Eagles would finish at 25% for the game and hit only 4-of-29 from three in the game.  Asbury finished at 47% for the game and only 6-of-22 from three. 

Flip Crawford recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  Crawford ranks 5th in NAIA DII in offensive rebounds per game but did most of his damage on the defensive glass, pulling down 10.  The Eagles got an all-around contribution from their other starting forward, Justin Jones.  Jones scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished a team-high five assists, and blocked three shots.

Morrison’s 25 points mark the eighth 20-point game of the season and the 30th of his career in 81 games.  Morrison also passed the 1,500 career point mark and now sits at 1,506 for his career.  He is one of only six players to reach this mark in Asbury basketball history. 

The Eagles will host No. 15 Indiana Southeast on Saturday at 8:00 pm.