CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio.--- Asbury men's basketball (4-8, 0-0 CCS) was led by 31 combined points from sophomores
Jonathan Combs and
Tyler Hall in their final non-conference game before CCS League Play, but fell at Ohio Christian University (12-2, OCU) in Circleville, Ohio, on Thursday evening, 69-51.
Ohio Christian led 29-15 at the end of the first half and took the second half 40-36 to secure the win. The Blazers made five threes in the first half of their 11 field goals.
The Asbury defense led OCU into 13 turnovers and scored 18 points off the turnovers while holding the Blazers to five points off giveaways. OCU gathered 50 rebounds compared to Asbury's 28 boards, and outscored AU 19-11 in second chance points.
Combs made three three-pointers with his 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds with a block and a steal. Hall scored 15 points with five rebounds and two assists.
Sophore
Aden Slone had four boards with three assists in the game.
Cayden Lancaster had five rebounds with six points and two assists.
AU made four of their five threes in the second half to score 36 points in the second. The Eagles shot 12-18 from the free-throw line while OCU went 8-11 from the line.
OCU made 27 field goals and held Asbury to 17 made shots. The Blazers dished 15 assists and held AU to 11 assists in the game.
The matchup between the two former conference foes was the first since the 2020-2021 season. Asbury leads the all-time series with a 12-4 overall record.
Asbury will play Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tn., at Allen Arena on December 29 at 4 pm CST (5 pm EST) in an exhibition matchup before they open Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) play in Demorest, Ga., for a matchup with Piedmont University for their first ever CCS game on January 4 at 4 pm.
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Jonathan Combs | 16 PTS , 8 REB, BLK, STL, 3 3PT
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Tyler Hall | 15 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, STL
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Cayden Lancaster | 6 PTS, 5 REB
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Cam Jones | 6 PTS, 2 REB, 2 STL, 2 AST
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Aden Slone | 4 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
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