Eagles late rally earns crucial KIAC victory

RICHMOND, Ind. – What looked to be a replay of another Indiana-East blowout victory quickly turned into a thriller as Phillip Morrison knocked down the game winner with five seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 92-90 victory, their seventh straight since a loss to IUE in January. 

Morrison converted an old fashioned three-point play after a David Sanders missed jumper with the Red Wolves up by one.  Morrison bounced back with 34 points after scoring only nine in the Eagles’ last game; it was only the second time this year he didn’t reach double-figures.

IUE (17-8, 7-2 KIAC) looked to be on their way to another rout of Asbury (16-6, 7-1 KIAC) after a quick 17-7 start.  The Red Wolves beat the Eagles 107-83 back on January 11th in the Luce Center.  Asbury’s slow start caused head coach Will Shouse to call two quick timeouts.  After that the Eagles fought back and didn’t let the game get out of hand.

The Eagles pulled to within one at halftime at 46-45.  Flip Crawford led the Eagles with 13 of his 19 points in the first half and was perfect from the foul line at 7-for-7.  He finished the game 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.  He also grabbed 11 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the season and second straight. 

Asbury scored the first four points of the second half to take a three point lead but IUE fought back quickly to retake the lead.  The Red Wolves again looked to be running away with the game around the 11 minute mark with a nine point lead.  The Eagles knocked down a three followed immediately by a timeout where Coach Shouse would be assessed a technical foul. 

Matt Trimnell would knock down both free throws to push the lead back to eight, but momentum seemed to swing slightly at that point.  The Eagles would trade leads with the Red Wolves before IUE once again took charge late, setting up Morrison’s heroics.

Morrison’s 34 points is the fourth time this season he’s eclipsed 30 this season and 10th of his career.  He moves into fifth place on the all-time Asbury scoring list with 1,664 passing Stephen Horn.  Next up for Morrison is Michael Spann with 1,699 career points.

Asbury will battle Indiana-Southeast on Saturday in New Albany at 4:00 pm.  Both teams are 7-1 in the KIAC, the winner will be alone in first place.  Asbury beat IUS in Wilmore on January 15th 82-80.