WILMORE, Ky.--- Asbury men's basketball (7-15, 3-6 CCS) fell short in a back-and-forth Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) battle with Huntingdon College (17-5, 6-3 CCS) on Saturday night in Wilmore, Ky., 81-78.
The game saw five lead changes and seven ties throughout, ending with a contested three from AU senior
Ben McNew that was off the mark and rebounded by Huntingdon. The Hawks led 47-36 at the break and then were outscored by Asbury 42-34 in the second half to take the three point win.
Huntingdon shot 48% from the field and made six threes while AU shot 44% from the floor and knocked down nine three-pointers. The Eagles went 13-17 from the line, the Hawks made 19 of their 28 free-throws.
The Asbury defense forced their most turnovers from an opponent all season, seeing Huntingdon commit 18 turnovers that led to 13 AU points off turnovers. The Eagles committed 10 giveaways with the Hawks scoring 13 off those turnovers.
McNew went 8-16 from the field with three made threes for his game-high 23 points. Sophomore finance major
Luke Imfeld scored 19 for Asbury with five rebounds and two assists.
Aden Slone dished a career-high 10 assists alongside four rebounds and three steals, giving him 19 assists in his last two games.
Clayton Winter scored eight points with six boards while
Cam Jones scored 10 points for AU in his 14th double-digit scoring game this season.
Asbury's three-game winning streak in CCS games comes to an end against the No. 3 ranked team in the CCS, but AU battled throughout. The Eagles trailed by 11 at half and roared back to within one, 61-60.
Huntingdon now leads the series with Asbury 2-0 in the first season for AU in the CCS.
"We continue to be very happy with our guys fight heading into this part of the season. We had a chance in this game to win our fourth straight conference contest and just fell short. Huntingdon is a very good team. We gave ourselves a chance and that's what we want."
Russ Abner | Asbury Associate Head Coach
Asbury hosts No. 1 in the CCS Maryville College on Tuesdsay night in the Luce Center at 7 pm.
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Ben McNew | 23 PTS, 3 3PT, 3 REB, STL, AST
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Luke Imfeld | 19 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, BLK
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Aden Slone | 10 AST (Career-High), 4 REB, 4 PTS
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Clayton Winter | 8 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL
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Scott Shepherd | 7 PTS, 2 REB
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Cam Jones | 10 PTS, REB
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