Zack Peñalva, Sports Editor
Men’s Basketball
Feb. 17- When it comes to ending a season, you couldn’t possibly do it in any better style than the Eagles did in their 76-73 win over Ohio Christian University on Wednesday. The win capped off a five-game run of wins that saw Asbury shoot up the conference standings and make a strong push for a spot in the post season.
Currently at 7-9 in the KIAC, the Eagles are two games ahead of Indiana University Southeast. With one playoff berth left, the Eagles will need IUSE to lose to both Point Park University and Carlow in order to make the first round of the playoffs.
The win was hard won against OCU, with Asbury seeing their lead disintegrate in the games final moments as the Trailblazers went on a late scoring run to cut the lead. OCU’s Marquis Jackson was the game’s high scorer with 30 points, but the Eagles had their own offensive powerhouse with freshman Trenton Thompson. As he’s done over and over this season, Trenton lit up offensively, going for 23 points despite playing with an obvious back injury.
The whole team will have time to rest if they do make the playoffs, with the opening round happening on Feb. 24 away from home.
Women’s Basketball
Feb. 17- For the women’s team, the game against OCU was played with similarly high stakes. The Eagles 68-60 win came with a lot of superlatives. It put them at five wins in a row, it saw them finish as the front-runner in the KIAC for the regular season, it secured a twenty win season and most impressively it qualifies them for a spot in the NAIA National Championship Tournament for the second year in a row.
The game against OCU was far from the Eagles best, but it goes to show how dominant they are against conference opponents in that they never really looked in danger of losing. Head coach Tim Brown was allowed the luxury of rotating his players and keeping them fresh; ten Eagles’ players saw time on the court.
Standouts included seniors Kylee Gorby (12pts. 4asst.) and Catie Fletcher (9pts. 6rbnd.) who ensured that their final season of college ball would go on at least a little bit longer. They’ll play for the KIAC championship starting next week on Feb. 24 at home with the national championship looming after that.