Asbury Holds Off Late CCU Rally

WILMORE, Ky. – Asbury shot 63% from the field in the first half and knocked down 11 threes but had to hold on to beat Cincinnati Christian 97-89 on Tuesday night in the Luce Center.  The Eagles shot only 2-for-10 from long range in the second half.

Six of the eight players that saw the court scored in double digits for the Eagles (17-7, 8-2 KIAC), led by Adam Delph who poured in 16 of his game-high 20 in the second half.  Delph just missed out on his first career double-double with nine rebounds.  He also added two assists and three blocks.

Flip Crawford scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.  Crawford also dished out a team-high five assists, four in the first half.  Brock Hurtle knocked down four of his five threes in the first half as the Eagles built a 12 point halftime lead.  Hurtle finished with 15 points.

Asbury took their largest lead of the game at 17 with 9:30 left and were promptly out-scored 22-8 over the next six minutes to cut their lead down to three.  Asbury made all seven free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory, they were only 12-of-21 from the line in the game.

Asbury takes sole possession of second place in the KIAC, a half game lead over IUE who will host Brescia on Wednesday.  Asbury will need to win out and a loss by IUE in their final four games to take second place and potential home court advantage in the conference semi-finals.

Asbury will travel to Brescia on Saturday to take on the Bearcats before returning home next Tuesday to host Berea on senior day.  They will close out the season on Thursday February 17th at Alice Lloyd.