OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Asbury University men's basketball team returned to action on Thursday for the first time since November 14, but the Eagles didn't skip a beat as they defeated Brescia 81-75 on the road.

AU improves to 3-0 on the year and also collects its first River States Conference victory of the season.

For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Eagles are off to a 3-0 start.

Key Stats
*Junior Nick Fort posted a career-high 23 points on 10-21 shooting to lead AU in scoring for the night.
*Fort also tallied nine rebounds with a block and a steal.
*Leander Ridgeway played all 40 minutes of action and accumulated 21 points and nine boards. Ridgeway had another efficient night at the foul line finishing 6-7.
*Jamiel Goliday recorded a season-high 17 points and knocked down five threes, a game-high.
*Siah Holifiled scored eight points and dished out a team-high five assists, while Dakota Walden chipped in with seven points and four rebounds.
*Asbury shot just under 47 percent for the game and hit 9 threes.
*Additionally, the Eagles won the rebounding edge 41-33 and forced 14 turnovers.

Highlights
*The Eagles got things going quickly with a 17-6 lead in the first seven minutes of play.
*Asbury remained ahead 22-17 before capping off an 11-2 run to hold their largest lead of the game at 33-19.
*AU led 39-30 at the break, as Jamiel Goliday led all scorers with 14 points.
*In the second half, the scoring on both ends went back and forth. Brescia knotted things up at 66 with under seven minutes left.
*However, the Eagles went on an 8-3 run to take a 74-69 lead with three minutes left.
*BU cut the lead down to just one with two minutes to play, but big baskets from both Nick Fort and Leander Ridgeway kept the Eagles ahead. Ridgeway's bucket was scored in transition off a turnover to push the lead out to five.  
*Asbury got multiple key defensive stops in the final minutes of the contest as they held the Bearcats to only two points in the final two minutes.

Next Up
Asbury will return to the Luce Center on Saturday as they play host to RSC opponent Alice Lloyd. Tip-off is slated for 3 PM.