OAKLAND CITY, In. --- Asbury traveled to Oakland City, IN on Wednesday night for the opening round of the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament to face Oakland City University. The Eagles' strong defense held Oakland City to only 69 points, and allowed them to take the victory 83-69 moving on to the next round of the tournament. 

The Eagles came out strong in the first half scoring 41 points and taking an 11 point lead heading into the break. AU knocked down 6 threes in the first half and turned Oakland City over 9 times, leading to their double-digit lead.

AU picked up right where they left off scoring 18 points in the first 6 minutes of the second half, taking a 60-39 lead over Oakland City. Strong defense and consistent made baskets held Oakland City off the rest of the night as AU would not give up the lead again. The Eagles move to 14-10 on the season and more importantly a date with Alice Lloyd in the Regional Championship game on Saturday night. 

This Asbury team has continued get improve all season long after a challenging start to the year and have now won a postseason road game and are looking for more. 

* Nick Fort, the NCCAA Mideast Region Player of the Year posted a strong 25 pts, 9 reb and 4 ast. This snaps the record breaking double-double streak for Fort, the run lasted an incredible 12 consecutive games, 16 overall on the season)

* Eric Powell was dominant scoring 23 pts on 9-15 FG, 5-7 from 3 PT, also collected 5 steals with his swarming defense

* John Shoulders provided the Eagles with 13 pts on the night, knocked down three from distance

* Dakota Walden made his presence known in the game scoring 8 pts, 5 rebs, 3 ast and 2 steals

* AU shot the ball extremely well from distance (11-20) which allowed to extend their lead

* Asbury collected 13 steals on the night which kept Oakland City from getting into a rhythm 

* AU used their fast break offense to their advantage which helped them take the victory (16 points)

Asbury moves to the next round of the NCCAA Regional Tournament and will travel to Pippa Passes, KY to take on Alice Lloyd on Saturday night at 7 PM