Eagles Stunned by Brescia
WILMORE, Ky. – There would be no dramatic come-from-behind victory in store for Asbury as Brescia upset the Eagles in the KIAC First Round 71-69 on Tuesday night in the Luce Center. Asbury entered as tri-champs in the regular season and the third seed in the tournament.
After leading for the first 10 minutes of the game Brescia took their first lead and never let go. They would push the lead out to 14 in the second half and lead by 10 with as 4:45 remaining. The Eagles shaved three points off that lead by the 2:23 mark, and then cut the lead down to one with 25 seconds left.
Brescia’s Aaron Tandy would knock down two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 70-67. Phillip Morrison was purposely fouled as he started to drive and with 13 seconds left knocked down two free throws to cut the lead back to one.
Derrick Thornberry missed the second of two free throws with 12 seconds left and the Eagles down two. Morrison brought the ball up the court and with three seconds left pulled up from 15-feet but with Tandy in his face missed the shot off the back iron. The ball would fall to the ground harmlessly to end the Eagles’ season.
Morrison finished with 18 points and finishes his career 3rd all-time on Asbury’s scoring list with 1,770 points. Adam Delph led all scorers with 19 points. Justin Jones added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Flip Crawford nearly had a double-double with 13 rebounds and 8 points.
Brescia had four players in double figures led by Hunter Rowe off the bench with 16 points. The Bearcats shot 46% from the floor and hit on 8-of-15 from long distance. Asbury was cold, shooting 36% from the floor and making only 6-of-22 from three-point range.
The Eagles finish the season with the fewest losses in school history (8) and tied with the 2001-02 team with the best winning percentage (71.4%). Asbury also broke the school record for wins in conference play (11) and won a share of the KIAC regular season for the second time.
