Men’s Basketball Falls to Asbury, 59-57, in Buzzer Beater

SPRINGFIELD, OH. – A three-pointer off the hands of junior forward Jonathan Combs with one second remaining in the game gave Asbury University a 59-57 upset victory over Wittenberg in men's basketball action at Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

It was only the second win of the season for the Eagles, now 2-10 overall, and it snapped Wittenberg's nine-game winning streak, putting the Tigers at 9-2 on the season. It was the third three-pointer of the game for Combs, who led his team with 20 points. In the series against Asbury, the Tigers are 0-2 after losing to the Eagles last year, 77-76, in overtime in Kentucky.

Wittenberg was in command for most of the game that saw just four ties and three lead changes. It led 25-15 at the 5:52 mark of first, then stretched it to its largest lead of 17 at 37-20 with 28 seconds remaining in the opening half. The Tigers took a 37-25 lead into the locker room at the break, but let Asbury back in the game in the second half.

After leading 44-28 at the 16:53 mark, the Tigers didn't score again until 13:13 on the clock on a layup by Dawson Scott (New Castle, IN / New Castle). Having trouble finding points in the second half, Witt had two more stretches where it went more than two minutes without scoring.

Leading 53-45 with just over six minutes to go, the Tigers' scoring troubles came back to haunt them as Asbury played pressure defense and went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 56-all with 1:52 remaining. Neither team could find the bucket until Scott hit a free throw with 18 seconds left to put the Tigers ahead 57-56 before Combs hit the game-winner.

Wittenberg shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and 33.3 percent (12.5 percent from three-point range) in the second, while the Eagles shot 30.8 percent in the first and 43.3 percent in the second, going 8-for-15 for 53.3 percent from three-point range. Asbury's sticky defense forced Wittenberg into 17 turnovers that turned into 15 points for the Eagles, who only committed nine. Asbury outscored the Tigers 34-20 in the second half.

Only two players scored in double digits for the Tigers with Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy Orange) popping in 13 and Cal Bavineau (Dexter, MI / Dexter) adding 10. Brown also led the team in rebounds with 10, along with one block. Bavineau had three rebounds to put him over 100 in his career with 101 total. He also added three assists and two steals.

Totals for the game had Wittenberg outrebounding the Eagles 33-25. Witt was 44.2 percent from the field at 19-for-43 and 25 percent from three-point land at 5-for-20. Asbury shot 21-for-56 for 37.5 percent from the field and 10-for-25 for 40 percent from three-point land. Each team was 70 percent from the charity stripe. It was the first home loss for the Tigers.

Next up: Wittenberg will get back to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) action when it hosts Wooster on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. at the Pam. Wittenberg is 2-0 in the NCAC, while Wooster is 1-2.

Written By: Cindy Holbrook