Red Wolves - IU East

It proved a microcosm of the whole Indiana University East men's basketball season.

A missed opportunity.

The Red Wolves' season ended with a 102-95 loss against Asbury College on Feb. 23 in a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinal at Earlham College.

No. 4 seed IU East yielded 71 points in the second half as No. 5 seed Asbury put up more points than the scoreboards at Earlham College could handle.

The scoreboards read "IU EAST 95, ASBURY 02" at the final buzzer, but the Red Wolves knew the true result.

IU East finished 14-14. Asbury (15-16) moves on to face top-seeded IU Southeast in the KIAC Tournament semifinal on Feb. 26 in Frankfort, Ky.

"For the expectations we had, this is a big disappointment," said senior forward Noah Douglas (Indianapolis, Ind./St. Joseph's College). "There's no other way to put it.

"We had such big expectations after taking the No. 2 team in the country (Oregon Tech) all the way to the final buzzer to start the season (on Oct. 31), and we thought we would come back and get rolling. It's disappointing to finish the way we did."

The Red Wolves seemed poised to make a postseason push after earning home-court advantage for the KIAC Tournament quarterfinals thanks to an improbable sequence of events in the final week of the season.

IU East took a 34-31 halftime lead as Douglas and senior forward Jacobe Edmondson (Indianapolis, Ind./Ancilla College) dominated down low during the first 20 minutes.

The Red Wolves would extend their advantage to 52-44 after sophomore guard David Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Beech Grove High School) made a 3-pointer with 14:30 remaining.

Asbury turned the game by spreading the floor and driving to the basket for layups and kick-out 3-pointers.

The Eagles needed just two minutes to erase IU East's lead. Asbury took control with an 11-2 surge that resulted in a 74-64 Eagles lead with 5:29 left.

Asbury would make 66 percent of its shots in the second half. The Eagles also enjoyed a 26-11 advantage in fast break points.

"They did a good job of moving the ball," Douglas said.

IU East coach Mark Hester's take: "We had an opportunity to close out the game and we didn't do it. We told them what needed to happen in the second half, and we didn't do a good job of executing in the second half."

The Red Wolves would get no closer than six in the final five minutes.

Adam Delph led five Asbury players in double figures with 23 points.

Cory Britt added 21 and handled a majority of the defensive responsibilities on IU East leading scorer Tyler Rigby, who finished seven points below his average.

Brian Johnson added 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

IU East senior Bijon Jones (Jackson, Tenn./Southeast Missouri State) led the Red Wolves with 22 points in his final college game.

Edmondson, another senior, scored a career-high 16 points in his final college game.

Six IU East players scored in double figures.

But, much like the season, it added up to nothing but a missed opportunity.

"We just didn't find a way to jell after Christmas and maintain the momentum we had coming into the holiday," Hester said.

Click here to read the Richmond Palladium-Item's coverage of the game.