Dominating first half drives Ashland University men's basketball to win over Cedarville

ASHLAND — Bo Furcron took care of the offense, and his Eagles teammates took care of the defense.

In a dominating home performance, Ashland University’s men’s basketball team jumped out to a commanding 18-5 lead and never looked back in a 77-60 victory over Cedarville in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action Saturday at Kates Gymnasium.

Furcron began the contest on fire, drilling his first four shots of the game, all 3-pointers, to give Ashland (10-6, 7-3) a 12-5 lead. Ethan Conley and Hunter Shedenhelm then connected from beyond the arc for a quick 13-point lead.

From there, the Eagles defense asserted itself, holding the Yellow Jackets (10-7, 6-4) to just 17 points the entire first half. At intermission, Cedarville was a chilly 5 of 28 from the field for a paltry 18%.

“It’s nice to get that win,” said Ashland coach John Ellenwood. “We haven’t been shooting great this year, but we are starting to get in a rhythm, and I think the start of that game really showed that.”

Eagles dominate both sides of the court in first half

With the Eagles beginning the game 6 of 7 from 3-point range and the Yellow Jackets just 2 of 13 from the field, the early 13-point lead kept growing for Ashland.

“Their defense is tough to go against with that match-up zone,” said Ellenwood. “I was proud of our guys since we only had one day to really prepare for it. The last time we played, we don’t see that style of defense very much. Our guys executed really well. They gave us some open 3s, and that’s what we took.”

Ellenwood talked about the play of his defense in the first 20 minutes of action and specifically the positive turnover ratio.

“I was really proud of their effort and focus they had,” he said. “It is one of those things where we are starting to get our head up and see passes. We will continue to preach that throughout the season. We have to keep getting better. The way our system works is about unselfishness, and that is what we are trying to do.”

Furcron finished the first half a perfect 7 of 7 from the field, including 5 of 5 from beyond the arc and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line. Ashland took a 38-17 lead into halftime.

“It feels really good,” said Furcron on his offensive explosion. “Like I say every time, we have a great team and God is really good. When I am hitting shots, it feels so good that my teammates are more happy than I am. They’re telling me to, ‘Keep going. Keep going.’ And that feels really good.”

Furcron was equally proud of the team’s defensive effort.

“It’s the game plan,” he said. “We kind of see what teams do best, and they are a great 3-point shooting team and really good offensive rebounding team. We try to limit them to what we want to give them, and today we were able to do that.”

Cedarville second-half rally falls short

The Yellow Jackets fell behind by as much as 26 points (44-18) before a mini run cut Ashland’s lead to 52-39 with just under 11 minutes left to play.

But another Furcron basket was followed by free throws from Tre Baumgardner, and Ashland held a 17-point advantage with 9:07 on the clock.

Cedarville again sliced the lead to 12 points late in the game, but Ashland responded with a 7-0 run to close out the game.

Ellenwood said scouting and intellect are the keys to solid defense

“They are a good offensive team,” said Ellenwood. “I think we did a good job of alertness on the weak side. And a lot of our defense is predicated on scouting reports. You don’t only have to know the guy you are primarily guarding, but maybe a guy you are guarding for five seconds. That takes a lot of intelligence, and I think our guys are very intelligent defenders as well.”

Furcron scored a career-high 29 points to pace all scorers. Aaron Thompson had 14 points and six rebounds, while Brandon Haraway added 11 points and five assists.

The Eagles shot the ball at a 50% clip (24 of 48) while holding Cedarville to just 32% on 17-of-53 shooting.

Furcron said the team is ready to take off on a winning streak.

“It has felt that way so many times because even the games we lost it was right at the buzzer,” he said. “I feel like we should be on a five- or six-game winning streak. But we are getting better and better and need to take it one game at a time.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland U men's hoops uses big first half to beat Cedarville