WILMORE, Ky. — Asbury Men's Basketball returned home on Wednesday night to host a very talented 12-0 Alice Lloyd College (ALC) team. Asbury was fresh off a battle-tested road victory at Blackburn College and were ready again tonight as they got off to a hot start. AU grabbed an early 18-9 lead in the 1st half with 9 of their first 18 points being from three. ALC would battle back through their strong offense taking a 46-42 lead into the break over AU. 

ALC continued their strong play and took their largest lead of the night over Asbury with 15 minutes left in the game, 64-52. Asbury, who lost one of their key players Eric Powell to injury earlier in the game, would not give up. AU would continue to fight and eventually through stellar defense and made shots find themselves tied 78-78 with 6 minutes to go. Asbury was shorthanded with multiple key players out, but it was the next man up as they showed heart taking ALC all the way down to the wire.  

ALC's high-powered offense would end up being enough to hold off Asbury, giving them a victory of 93-85 in this one. 

* Nick Fort posted a large double-double with 15 rebounds and 26 points

* John Shoulders contributed heavily with 24 points, knocking down four from distance

* Ben McNew, the freshman added 7 points and 5 rebounds to AU in the game

* Damon Tobler from ALC was very impressive with 11 boards and 26 points

* Asbury managed to knock down 11 3's on the night

* Asbury shot 29% from three in the 2nd half, which proved to be their downfall

* ALC had 31 bench points compared to Asbury's 7

"Although we were shorthanded, our guys did a great job of not allowing that to be an excuse to not show up and try to win. Alice Lloyd is a tough team and an undefeated team. But we didn't allow that to keep us from playing really hard and fearless. We had a number of guys who normally don't get big minutes to step up and make the most out of their opportunity. We're so proud of the way everyone competed tonight."

• Associate Head Coach Russ Abner

Asbury will look to bounce back on a road trip matchup with Wilberforce next week, Jan. 4.