HAMMOND, Ind. -- After a sluggish start from the Purdue Northwest Men's Basketball team, hot hands and good defense from the Pride brought them back within striking distance. Trailing by just two in the final seconds of the game, a misthrown inbound pass doomed the Pride as they fell to the Ashland University Eagles 76-74.
 
"The score may have indicated a close game, but Ashland was the better team tonight," said Head Coach Boomer Roberts. "They were tougher, nastier, more physical, and we didn't deserve to win. Until we get to a toughness level that is worthy of victory in this league, especially on defense, we will continue to be right there and fall short."
 
In the first few minutes of the game, the Black and Gold found themselves in an early hole, trailing 13-0. Back-to-back threes from Jordan Doss and Gabe Toombs helped stop the bleeding. With under three minutes to go in the first half, Chandler Spring and Timothy Gilmore cut the deficit to just eight with three-pointers of their own. At the buzzer, a Toombs put-back on an Xavier Allison layup cut Ashland's lead to just four going into the half. Spring finished 3-4 in the half with nine points, and Toombs was 3-3 with seven of his own.
 
Coming out after the half, the Pride let Ashland charge out in front by as much as 19 points, but they refused to give up. With 5:20 remaining, Spring drew a charge and followed by hitting a bucket from the outside, closing the gap to just nine. A Doss layup, a defensive stop, and another Spring three with under three minutes cut the Eagles lead to 69-63. Since it was already raining, Durante Lee hit a shot of his own from beyond the arc with just one minute left to play, putting the Pride within 71-69. Finishing off a stellar night from behind the arc, Spring hit his eighth three of the night with 8.2 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game, and after a missed one-and-one free throw from the Eagles, PNW called a timeout with 3.3 seconds left. In a heartbreaking finish, an errant inbounds pass gave the Eagles the ball back as time expired, and the Pride fell 76-74.
 
Senior guard Chandler Spring scored a season-high 28 points on the night, shooting 8-11 from three with four rebounds and a steal. Lee had nine points, while Anthony Barnard, Gilmore, Doss, and Tombs all finished with eight.
 
The Pride return to the court on Saturday, January 18th as they welcome the Wayne State Warriors to Hammond. The second game of Saturday's conference doubleheader begins at 3 PM (CT).