ASHLAND, Ohio – The Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team (14-9, 8-7 G-MAC) was defeated 73-67 by Ashland, one of the top teams in the conference, on Saturday in Ohio.
The Panthers' three-game win streak versus the Eagles was snapped as KWC now trails the all-time series 6-3.
Ashland (17-6, 11-4 G-MAC) jumped out to a fast 10-3 lead before Wesleyan could even blink. The Panthers responded with a 10-2 run, capped off by a LaVonte Harris slam, to take their first lead at 13-12.
The Eagles had their own response, reeling off a 11-3 run to go up seven once again at 23-16. Later, with AU still up seven at 27-20, KWC went on a 17-6 burst that allowed them to head into the break up 33-31. During that run, Jorge Sanchez-Ramos poured in seven points and hit a three-pointer.
Wesleyan led by as much as six early in the second half, but the Eagles proved to be a tough out. With KWC leading 45-40, Ashland scored the next nine points to take a lead that the Panthers could fully not come back from.
Ashland had as large as an eight-point advantage in the latter half of the second half, but the Panthers did manage to tie the game at 66 with two and a half minutes to play after Sanchez-Ramos drove for a layup and hit another three.
Unfortunately, Ashland closed the battle on a 7-1 run to finalize their 73-67 win.
Sanchez-Ramos continued his stellar play with 17 points, six assists, three rebounds, and two steals on 7-13 shooting. Fatih Huyuk (12 points and six rebounds) and Armandas Plintauskas (10 points) joined the point guard in double digits.
Ke'Andre Jones had a solid outing with nine points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Harris added nine points and three rebounds in the affair.
Wesleyan next heads back to the Owensboro Sportscenter for two big games, the first of which versus Malone on Wednesday, February 12th, at 7:45 PM. Fans can watch live on FloCollege and listen on 94.7 WBIO.
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