Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team battled the Ashland University Eagles for the 100th time on Saturday, Jan. 13 in Croy Gymnasium. The Oilers have won 66 times in the series but came up short on a chilly afternoon, losing by a score of 94-86. That defeat makes Findlay 6-9 on the year with a 3-4 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while the Eagles improve to 11-4 and 5-3 in the G-MAC.
As is often the case when these two programs meet on the hardwood, Saturday's contest was tight throughout.
Early on, it was Ashland who took an eight point lead at 26-18 through ten minutes of play, but a 20-10 run by Findlay over the next six-and-a-half minutes saw the home team take back the momentum and the lead at 38-36. Despite that run, it was the Eagles who took a 48-43 advantage into the break as they closed the half with a 12-5 run of their own.
Findlay battled back in the start of the second, tying the game at 57 on a triple by senior Nathan Bruns. Another triple by the Chickasaw, Ohio native gave the Oilers a 60-57 advantage with 15:10 to play.
However, over the next six minutes, Ashland hit 7-of-10 from the floor, powering through a 17-5 run that saw them take a 74-65 lead.
The Oilers chipped away and pulled within three at 86-83, but it was not enough as Ashland went on to an eight-point victory.
With temperatures outside dipping below freezing, the Eagles were heating up the inside of Croy, making 34-of-53 (64%) from the floor including 7-of-13 from deep. Findlay hit 32-of-72 (44%) and was 16-of-43 (37%) from three-point range. Those 43 attempts are the most in a game in program history.
Ashland also made waves at the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-28 while the Oilers made just 6-of-10.
Senior Nathan Bruns, who played just 16 minutes due to an injury in the second half, led the team with 23 points. Bruns moves into ninth on the all-time scoring list, passing 2009 DII National Player of the Year and two-time all-American Josh Bostic (2005-09 | 1,705) in the process. Bruns also had four rebounds and two assists in the game.
Senior Cameron Shaw scored 18 points on the strength of 4-of-9 from deep while senior Joey Edmonds scored 12 and led the team with seven assists.
Findlay is back in action on Thursday, Jan. 18 with a trip to Northwood to take on the Timberwolves.
