Ashland University coach John Ellenwood was asked what spots his Eagles didn’t guard, he offered a five-word answer.
“Anywhere Reid Jolly catches it,” Ellenwood said.
Thomas More’s guard/forward made Ashland’s Saturday afternoon stressful – 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block helped the Saints to a 79-69 win over the NCAA’s Division II eighth-ranked Eagles at Connor Convocation Center.
“That’s pretty cool, getting respect from other divisions,” Jolly said.
Saturday’s win also let Thomas More forget about a Dec. 2, 89-74 home loss to Cedarville. Saints coach Justin Ray didn’t think his team was connected.
“We had a long week of practice after the Cedarville game,” Ray said. “It would’ve been real easy for those guys to lay down and just keep letting things go the way they were going. We took a huge step forward as a team.”
Jolly’s game was just part of the story – the Saints’ 22-5 second-half run turned a 52-45 Ashland lead into 67-57 Thomas More with less than four minutes to go.
“We let them catch the ball pretty easy in spots they wanted to catch it,” Ellenwood said. “It led to easy points for them.”
There were assuredly other parts: Jacob Jones’ 13 points, two assists, two steals and a block; 10 points each from Kyle Ross and Nathan Dudukovich; out-rebounding the Eagles, 31-22; and committing just four turnovers.
Thomas More’s (6-3, 2-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference) second-half streak was not the only one – a 15-4 first-half run put the Saints ahead, 20-14. But Ashland (6-1, 2-1) closed to 35-33 at halftime.
After Ethan Conley’s loose-ball layup and Ross’ 12-foot jumper made it 52-47 Ashland with 12:37 to go, the Saints had a Jolly good time.
Jolly stared with five points, which Casey George and Wyatt Vieth followed with a combined eight points.
The score: Thomas More, 60-52, 7:41 to go.
A Victor Searls bucket nearly a minute later made it 62-54 Saints, which became 67-54 on Jolly’s two and three Dudukovich free throws.
A couple minutes later, a laser show of sorts. Jolly, at the top of the key, bounced a pass between two Eagle defenders to Dudukovich, who streaked down the baseline, caught the pass, made the layup and the and-1 free throw.
“(Dudukovich is) a shooter I want to be shooting every time he gets the ball and he’s open,” Jolly said.
Thomas More uncorked one last wow-inducing play. With 18 seconds to go, Jolly fired a length-of-court pass to an unguarded Jones, who hit the uncontested layup.
“It’s called ‘San Diego,’ where we just launch it down the court,” Jolly said.
In the end, Ray called his team “connected.”
“It’s five guys constantly communicating, it’s five guys anticipating what the next guy’s going to do, it’s five guys completely active,” Ray said. “Hands, feet, head on a swivel. It’s five guys playing as hard as they can so they don’t let down the guy next to him.”
SAINTS 79, EAGLES 69
ASHLAND — 33-36 — 69
THOMAS MORE — 35-44 — 79
Scoring
ASHLAND (69) —Williams 11, Searls 16, Adams 9, Wheeler 21, Conley 5, Etzler 2, Gregory 2, Edwards 3.
THOMAS MORE (79) —Jolly 22, Ross 10, Vieth 9, Jones 13, George 7, Dudukovich 10, Paris 6, Teten 2.
Game Stats
Field Goals: A 29-52, TM 30-62.
3-Pointers: A 3-11, TM 5-18
Free Throws: A 8-12, TM 14-18
Rebounds: A 22, TM 31
Assists: A 10, TM 12
Turnovers: A 9, TM 4
Fouls: A 14, TM 10. Fouled out: None.
Records: Ashland 6-1 (2-1 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference), Thomas More 6-3 (2-1).
Women
ASHLAND 70, THOMAS MORE 62
The moment perhaps made Thomas More fans wonder if – maybe – it could happen.
After Rylee Turner knocked down a free throw with 1:44 left in the second quarter, there it was – Saints 33, the NCAA Division II No. 1 Eagles 28.
From there, the dream dissolved. Ashland (8-0, 3-0 in the GMAC) scored the final six points and led 34-33 halftime lead and 51-42 after three quarters.
“I’ll be as nice as I can,” Thomas More coach Jeff Hans said. “We’re not here for moral victories, but we want to win. Yeah, it’s good to be there, I guess, have a chance at the end.”
One statistic stood out above the rest: Ashland hit 27-of-30 free throws – that’s 90% – and Savayah Brockington’s game-high 20 points included 10-of-10 from the line. Hayley Smith and Abbie Roshak added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
What Thomas More (4-4, 2-2) was not: unafraid. The Saints didn’t hesitate driving through the middle of Ashland’s defense.
An early example: the Saints’ Morgan Hunt scored her only two points on a layup over Ashland’s Macy Spielman.
The Saints’ Rachel Martin, Rylee Leonard and Alex Smith were equally fearless: Martin’s 3 over the Eagles Lexi Howe, Smith’s pass in the paint that became Leonard’s layup, and Smith’s steal that Leonard converted into another layup.
Fearlessness, however, only went so far. Ashland – especially Brockington – opened the third quarter with a 14-5 run; Brockington contributed eight points and an assist.
Thomas More was not nearly finished. After Martin’s layup with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter, the Saints trailed by just 60-55.
“I think in the fourth quarter, our 1-on-1 defense got a little lax,” Ashland coach Kari Pickens said. “… And then, in the half-court, (Thomas More) did a little bit of a different defensive game plan than we’d seen, and I think they made us a little hesitant at times.”
Martin and Smith led the Saints with 16 points each.
Before the game, 2019 Thomas More alumna Madison Temple’s No. 24 jersey was retired. She holds career records in scoring (2,184 points), field goals made (812) and assists (585).
EAGLES 70, SAINTS 62
ASHLAND — 19-15–17-19 — 70
THOMAS MORE — 18-15–9-20 — 62
Scoring
ASHLAND (70) —Smith 14, Roshak 12, Brockington 20, Spielman 7, Howe 5, Miller 7, Daniels 5.
THOMAS MORE (62) —Turner 4, Smith 16, Brenner 2, Jones 6, Martin 16, Leonard 8, Hunt 2, Tandy 1, Vickers 7.
Game Stats
Field Goals: A 19-53, TM 20-51
3-Pointers: A 5-23, TM 5-18
Free Throws: A 27-30, TM 17-24
Rebounds: A 32, TM 22
Assists: A 10, TM 7
Fouls: A 17, TM 21. Fouled out: Smith (TM).
Turnovers: A 13, TM 11.
Records: Ashland 8-0 (3-0 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference), Thomas More 4-4 (2-2).