Eagles Pick Up Road Victory
OWENSBORO, Ky. – Asbury never trailed en route to their second straight victory, 82-68 over Brescia University on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before taking an 11 point halftime lead.
Brescia would make a couple of runs in the second half cutting the lead to seven with almost nine minutes left, but the Eagles (18-7, 9-2 KIAC) showed their resolve by answering with a 13-2 run of their own to push the lead up to 18. Adam Delph was key during the run scoring seven of the 13 points. Delph finished with 17 points, 15 in the second half, five rebounds, five assists, five steals, and two blocks.
There were 40 free throws shot between the two teams including 30 coming in the first half. The first half saw 25 total fouls called. Asbury finished 19-of-22 from the line in the game, 14-of-14 in the first half. Phillip Morrison scored eight of his 18 from the foul line, and Flip Crawford added seven of his 19 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles were derailed in the first half and subsequently for the game with foul trouble thanks to those 15 first half whistles. Nate Johnson picked up four in the first half and eventually fouled out in only 16 minutes of action. Brock Hurtle and Jamal Morris each picked up three in the first half and Crawford and Justin Jones had two each.
That forced Asbury to go with five guards for an extended period in the half, but they were able to maintain their lead. Brescia ended up winning the rebounding battle 34-26 thanks largely to Asbury’s foul trouble. Jones and Crawford average nearly 17 a game combined and only grabbed only 11 on Saturday.
The Eagles shot the ball extremely well from the field at 52% and hit 7-of-17 from long range, 42%. Brescia ended up shooting 45% from the floor, but was only 6-of-20 from distance. They also turned the ball over 18 times. Aaron Tandy led the Bearcats with 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Phillip Morrison moved into 4th place on the Asbury scoring list, moving past former teammate Michael Spann. Morrison’s 1,711 points is the most for a three year player. He is only 49 points behind Art McMahon in third place.
Asbury returns home for their final regular season home game of the season on Tuesday as they host Berea on senior day at 8:00 pm. The Eagles close out the regular season on the road next Thursday at Alice Lloyd. Asbury will host a first round KIAC Tournament game on Tuesday February 22nd against a team to be determined.
