BLUFFTON, Oh.--- A strong defensive performance and 32 points from Nick Fort led Asbury (13-2) past Miami-Hamilton (9-5) on Thursday afternoon in Bluffton Oh., for their fourth straight win and the McDonald's of Bluffton Tournament championship. 

Asbury's defense shined to hold Miami-Hamilton to only 29 first half points and an even lower 24 points in the second half. Miami-Hamilton committed 11 turnovers and were held to shooting only 34 percent from the field. The Harriers had won their last seven games before falling to Asbury. 

Graduate forward Nick Fort was named tournament MVP as he scored 32 points with 16 rebounds to lead Asbury. Fort averaged 32.5 points and 13 boards in the two games in two days in Bluffton, Oh., with a total of 65 points, 26 rebounds, and 8 assists. 

Clayton Winter excelled for the third straight game, scoring 14 points on 5-7 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds for his third double-double on the year and second in three games. 

Caleb Wallis flirted with triple-double numbers once again, this time dishing nine assists (season-high) with six rebounds and six points. Guards John Shoulders and Ben McNew added a combined 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists together. 

AU dominated the glass, out-rebounding Miami-Hamilton 54-28 with 23 second-chance points compared to zero from the Harriers.

Sophomore forward Clayton Winter got things going for Asbury with eight of their first 17 points to give the Eagles an early 17-10 advantage. Miami-Hamilton pushed back with consecutive baskets from Jamison Bradley to tie things at 27 with 4:24 to go in the first. 

Nick Fort and John Shoulders combined for six points in the last minutes of the half to give Asbury a 33-29 edge heading into the break. 

Asbury's offense took off to start the second half, scoring 16 points in the first eight minutes to take a 49-33 lead over Miami-Hamilton. The Eagles held Miami to only four points in the opening eight minutes of the second half. 

AU continued to get stops and pile in points on the offensive end, receiving threes from Nick Fort, Ben McNew, and Caleb Wallis to push their lead out to 74-47 with only 2:38 remaining. 

Asbury closed the game with a 79-53 win to secure their 13th win of the season and the McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament championship.

The Eagles have now won four in a row and took down a Miami-Hamilton team that they slipped to twice last season. The #5 ranked in the NCCAA Eagles are tied with Grace College for the most wins of any team in the NCCAA at 13. 

Nick Fort is top five in the NCCAA in scoring with 24.6 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game. Junior guard Caleb Wallis is fourth in the NCCAA in assist/turnover ratio with 61 total assists compared to 21 turnovers. 


* Nick Fort | 32 PTS, 16 REB (11th Double-Double), Tournament MVP
* Clayton Winter | 14 PTS, 5-7 FG, 11 REB (2nd Double-Double in 3 Games)
* Caleb Wallis | 9 AST, 6 REB, 6 PTS
* John Shoulders | 9 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
* Ben McNew | 8 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST


* Asbury's defense held the seven game win-streaking Miami-Hamilton to only 24 second-half points
* AU out-rebounded Miami-Hamilton 54-28, taking 23 second-chance points


"We are so proud of our guys, especially for what they were able to do on the defensive side of the floor. We've started the first half of our last two games very slow on defense. Coming out with a defensive purpose was our #1 priority today. Credit to Caleb Wallis too, as he took their leading scorer out of the game and held a really good player to 6 points total. Great team win overall."
Russell Abner | Associate Head Coach


Asbury will take a break until they travel to Pippa Passes, Ky., to take on Alice Lloyd College on January 10th at 7 pm. 


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