Nick Morgan, Sports Editor
The Asbury basketball teams both finished their relatively successful seasons last week on disappointing notes. The women’s team missed out on the conference tournament for the third time in three years since winning the then Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament in the 2015-16 season. The men’s team finished with its best record in over a decade and took down Rio Grande University in the first round of the River States Conference (RSC) tournament by a score of 83-65. However, the Eagles were knocked out of the tourney by No. 4 ranked West Virginia Tech in the second round.
After getting off to a dismal 3-12 start, the women’s squad finished its season above .500, ending with a record of 11-19 (6-12 RSC), including a huge road win over No. 25 ranked Rio Grande University. The Lady Eagles were paced in scoring by sophomores Kelsey Johnson (second team all-RSC) and Autumn Herriford, averaging 14 and 12 points per game respectively. Throughout most of the season, the team’s starting lineup consisted of four underclassmen and one senior in Ashlee Rose, so moving forward, there is a lot to be excited about as the women develop and push for a return to the conference tournament.
On the men’s side, the Eagles finished out their season by winning 13 of their last 16 games, losing to only three ranked opponents. They ended with a record of 21-10 (13-5 RSC). Once again, senior Trent Thompson led the way for the Eagles in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 22 ppg and 8.5 rpg on his way to a third consecutive all-RSC selection. Just behind Thompson in scoring was senior and all-RSC second team selection Clif Conley, who averaged 15 ppg on an impressive 44 percent clip from beyond the 3-point line. While Thompson and Conley, as well as fellow starters Clarien Washington and Deion Cochran, will graduate this May, many new faces stepped up this season to give the Eagles hope for the future. Junior Desmond Duke, freshman Eric Powell and sophomore Siah Holifield all came up big in their respective roles for the Eagles this season.
