mims for ashland recap
80
Winner Ashland AU 2-0,0-0 G-MAC
76
Gannon Gannon 0-1,0-0 PSAC
Winner
Ashland AU
2-0,0-0 G-MAC
80
Final
76
Gannon Gannon
0-1,0-0 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ashland AU 39 41 80
Gannon Gannon 26 50 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Frantic Rally Falls Short as Gannon Drops Opener to Ashland

ERIE, Pa. – Five players scored in double figures but a frantic rally came up just short as Gannon opened the 2021-22 season with an 80-76 loss to Ashland. The Eagles opened the season on Friday with a win over Wayne State (Mich.) and are now 2-0. They were among teams "receiving votes" in the NABC Division II Preseason Poll.

Both teams were shorthanded, with Gannon playing without three players expected to be key performers, including starting guard Ike Herster (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic). Ashland was missing interior player Derek Koch.

Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) led Gannon with 16 points in his first game as a Golden Knight after transferring from Towson. The 6'6" redshirt sophomore made 7-of-14 field goals and pulled in eight rebounds. Donovan Forte (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights) and Robertas Jonaitis (Pakruojis, Lithuania/Greater Beckley Christian School) came off the bench to contribute 14 and 13 points, respectively. Forte, a 6'6", 250 lb. redshirt junior, made 6-of-9 field goals while registering a career-high in 18 minutes. Jonaitis made 4-of-7 field goals, including three emphatic dunks, and made 5-of-7 free throws. The 6'5" redshirt freshman also pulled down seven rebounds.

The backcourt tandem of Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) and Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) had 12 points apiece. Olsen, a 6'0" redshirt junior point guard, fell two assists shy of a triple double. In addition to the 12 points, he had 10 rebounds and eight assists. Clancy added six rebounds.

Gannon found itself trailing by 10 points at 75-65 with just 1:18 remaining. GU had one more run left thanks to a pair of steals. After Jonaitis slammed home his second dunk and made the ensuing free throw, Mims' steal resulted in a pair of free throws. He made both as Gannon suddenly trailed just 75-70 with 58 seconds remaining.

A Clancy steal led to a miss by Alfonso Pickens Jr. (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), but Jonaitis grabbed the rebound and scored to make it 75-72 with 56 seconds showing. A pair of free throws by Brandon Haraway built Ashland's lead back up to 77-72. Jonaitis countered with a pair of freebies to close Gannon to 77-74 with 52 seconds to play. Ashland would miss a pair of free throws, but Clancy missed a 3-pointer. Mims hustled for the rebound and put it back in as the score was now Ashland 77, Gannon 76 with 28 seconds left.

Gannon was forced to foul on Ashland's ensuing possession, and Haraway's two free throws built the deficit back to 79-76 with just 27 seconds showing. Gannon came down and missed a short jumper, with Aaron Thompson grabbing the rebound and being fouled. He made one of two for the final score.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a 15-8 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Ashland called timeout and proceeded to go on a 14-2 run that eventually turned into a 24-7 burst over the next eight minutes for a 32-22 lead with 4:22 left in the half. The Eagles would go into halftime leading 39-26.

Gannon scored the first 12 points of the second half as Ashland's lead shrank to a point at 39-38 with 15:38 left. Clancy and Olsen each scored five points, with Olsen's three capping the run.

The game remained tight over the next nine minutes, with Gannon again trailing by just a point at 55-54 on a thunderous dunk by Mims with 6:39 to play. Another Ashland timeout did the trick, as the Eagles eventually went on an 14-4 run to boost the lead to double digits at 71-60 with just over two minutes remaining.

Gannon used a 41-31 advantage on the glass to hold a 14-0 edge in second chance points. But that was not enough to overcome a 25-9 Ashland advantage in points off turnovers. The Golden Knights committed 16 compared to nine for Ashland.

Thanks to a strong showing in the second half, Gannon ended the night shooting 47.5 percent from the floor (29-of-61). The Knights shot 55.9 percent (19-of-34) in the final 20 minutes. They made 4-of-19 3-pointers and converted 14-of-17 free throws. Ashland shot 44.4 percent from the floor (28-of-63) and made 8-of-26 3-pointers to go with a 16-of-23 showing at the line.

Ashland had four players score in double figures, led by Tre Baumgardner's 20 points off the bench. Aaron Thompson added 18 points, with Bo Furcron contributing 16 markers and Haraway 11 points and six assists.

Gannon will look to pick up win number one on the season on Sunday, November 21 as another former GLIAC foe, Saginaw Valley State, invades the Hammermill Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.   
 
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