Eagles

After getting off to slow starts in their first few games, the East Jessamine Jaguars jumped out to an early home lead on Friday night against Madison Southern, and never looked back. "Really we just came out and played a solid first half and in the second half we tried to maintain what we were doing," said Jaguars Coach Chris O'Bryan. Despite a few aggressive runs from the Eagles, the Jaguars maintained their distance and gradually build upon their lead, winning 61-48. O'Bryan said the team did an excellent job keeping Eagles 6-foot-6 center grounded, only allowing him two points when he is averaging 25 for the team.

A miserable offensive second half trumped a solid defensive effort by the Eagles, leading to a 56-38 loss to No. 1 seed Indiana University-Southeast in the semifinals of the KIAC Tournament Friday night. The Eagles (15-17, 5-6 KIAC) trailed by just six points at halftime but went 3-for-25 from the field in the second half against eventual tournament champion IUS (19-8, 11-0). Asbury didn't get its first field goal of the half until 10:39 left, and the second field goal came with 3:48 remaining, a layup by Anna Stephenson that made it 52-28.

Asbury Head Coach Will Shouse said Tuesday that he had a plan for last Thursday night's game against the Tigers, and if his players stuck to that plan and made their shots, they had a chance to win. The Eagles executed the plan nearly to perfection, but the shots wouldn't fall in Asbury's 74-60 loss at No. 6 Georgetown. The Tigers (4-1) used a big run in the second half to put away a game that the Eagles (4-2) never seemed to be out of. After a 3-pointer by John Ensign brought Asbury within three at 50-47, and Michael Spann missed what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer on the next possession, the Tigers rattled off 16 straight points to increase their lead to 19. Shouse attributed the outburst to a momentary lapse by his team which had battled so hard for the first 25 minutes.

If the Asbury volleyball team had any doubts that it was the best team in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after a 7-0 regular season finish, those doubts disappeared after the Eagles mowed through the conference tournament last weekend without dropping a set. Asbury won its first-ever volleyball championship in convincing fashion, beating all three of its opponents 3-0 in the tournament, which was held at Midway College....

Asbury got strong outings from its four starters in doubleheaders Thursday against the University of the Cumberlands and Saturday against University of Cincinnati-Clermont, but the Eagles (10-13) still dropped three out of their four home games. University of the Cumberlands 1, Asbury 0 Sophomore Greg Bowling went eight innings of two-hit, one-run baseball, but Asbury's offense was stagnant, mustering just three hits and striking out seven times against Cumberlands starter Billy Grant (2-0)

A 118-65 victory over Crown College maybe isn't the best way for Asbury to prepare for Thursday night's showdown at Georgetown, but Head Coach Will Shouse said he still found ways to coach his team - by getting them to compete with themselves. "Our goal was actually to hold (Crown) under 60, and they got 65," he said. "We wanted to get 100 shots - we got 92 shots tonight. We wanted to shoot 40 3-pointers - we shot 38. If I can give my guys goals, some numbers, it kind of keeps them up, keeps them competitive.

In what became an encore performance of Asbury's 89-88 win over Alice Lloyd College Jan. 20, the Eagles escaped the Luce Center with another one-point win over a conference rival, this time in the form of a 78-77 victory over Berea College Saturday. This time it was Mikah Turner playing the part of the foil. Just like Alice Lloyd's Will Dillard, who had torched the Eagles (16-8, 4-3 KIAC) for 27 points in that game but had his potential game-winner blocked by Jordan Hammonds, Berea's (12-10, 4-4)

The Asbury College Eagles overcame a sluggish start and a poor second half to earn an 86-81 overtime win over Ohio Christian University Friday night in Wilmore. Asbury (10-5) went into the locker room with a 42-37 lead at halftime, but 27-percent shooting in the second half allowed OCU (3-10) to come back and tie the game at 65 with 2:35 remaining on a lay-up by sophomore Michael Baker. Asbury senior Michael Spann answered with a bucket of his own and then a wild, off-balanced jumper falling to his right to push the lead to 69-65.

George Rogers Clark survived a 12-0 first-quarter run and an 18-2 scoring spree in the third period to send the game into overtime, but Lexington Christian made six free throws in the final two minutes of the extra frame and the Cardinals dropped a disappointing 70-67 decision to the Eagles at Norton Gymnasium Saturday. Clark (0-2) kept the game close despite connecting on 20 of 53 shots from the field for 38 percent while LCA (1-0) hit 26 of 45 attempts from the field, mostly from close range, for a 58 percent clip.

The Lincoln County Middle School sixth grade Eagles capped off the season just as they opened it - with a win. The Eagles completed an undefeated regular season with a sweep through the Salt River Conference Postseason 6th Grade Tournament, claiming the championship title with a 46-39 win over King Middle School of Harrodsburg at LCMS. The seven-point margin was the closest game that Lincoln, the number one seed and the regular season SRC champ, had played all season with both teams battling hard for the tourney title.