Despite falling 98-76 on the road to the NCAA DII Ashland University on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles did find some things to be thankful for.
Playing their third straight game on the road versus an NCAA DII power and going up against the overwhelming Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason favorite and No. 18 ranked team in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, there were some valuable questions answered.
The first affirmation was that a lineup tweak and having everyone healthy makes a huge difference in the level of the Golden Eagles competitiveness. Even though AU held the lead for the final 14:23 of the opening half and KSU Tusc found themselves down 41-27 after a 9-0 spurt by the hosts, the pesky Golden Eagles played with a lot of moxie down the stretch.
Behind 46-32 with 1:58 remaining in the debut 20 minutes, the navy and gold outscored Ashland 8-2 to trim the lead to 48-40 at the break. They were lifted by a pair back-to-back triples by Braden Rostad and a Kameron Shockley offensive put back. Rostad also answered the call at the free throw stripe after he was knocked into the AU bench on a triple-try with :36 left. He calmly sank all three chances as the Golden Eagles finished the half on a flurry of scoring. Rostad lit up the scoreboard for 15 first half points and converted on 4/5 shots from distance where the Eagles have been less than stellar early this season.
The second attestation was that they got a much-needed boost in the rebounding department and they scored 14 second chance points by snagging nine offensive boards. Mekhi Johnson grabbed five caroms off the KSU Tusc glass as KSU Tusc held a 19-15 rebound advantage at halftime.
A 7-0 run over the opening four minutes of the final half spotted Ashland to a 55-40 margin. They continued to attack the basket and led by as much as 25 points on two occasions, but the Golden Eagles leaned on five three-point baskets---three by Rostad and two by Ethan Bower---to keep things from getting too far out of touch.
The final positive response came when the Eagles trailed by more than 20 points over the final 10:23 of the game as they stayed together and played selflessly and aggressively. That was illustrated by a Kameron Shockley steal and pass to Johnson for a deuce for his fifth assist with the score 81-56, and two wonderful assists by Juwan Coates to go along with a rebound and two driving baskets in just six minutes of action.
With every silver lining however, there is also a darker part of the cloud. And that ominous part was the play of AU's 6'7", 220 lb. Maceo Williams, who made 12/13 field goal tries as the purple and gold dominated the paint by outscoring KSU 72-36. The Golden Eagles did a better job on the glass this time out fighting to a 35-35 stalemate in rebounding.
Rostad powered the Golden Eagles pouring in 26 points making 7/14 tries from behind the three-point arc. Kameron Shockley scored 13 and led in rebounding with 10, while Kyle Shockley scored 11 and Johnson scored nine points and snared seven offensive misses.
KSU Tusc returns to action on Sunday, November 26th as they host CC Beaver County at 3 p.m. in Founders Hall Gym.
Mekhi Johnson makes a twisting shot and Vinny Roper drives to the basket under duress after a steal.
Kyle Shockley splits a pair of Ashland defenders.
(Photos by Brynn Meisse)