MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets waited until the last few minutes of Friday’s game to develop opening night jitters.
But the Jackets didn’t let a 12-2 run by Lexington end their hopes for a win.
Poised at the line, senior Eric Ashbrook hit two clutch free throws with seconds remaining, putting the game out of reach and sealing a 56-54 victory at The Hive.Ashbrook achieved his first varsity career double-double by leading Mount Vernon (1-0) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. As the primary player in the post, Ashbrook continues the tradition of solid post play for the Jackets.“It’s a post fraternity kind of thing,” said Mount Vernon head coach Kurt Kaufman. “It’s passing the torch between the senior posts in the program. It’s Joe (Scott), then it’s Ben (Hoar), then it’s Brad (Fenton) and now it’s Eric. You can see how he plays with so much confidence, now knowing he’s the senior post.”It almost wasn’t enough.The Jackets went from a 51-39 lead with three minutes to go, to 53-51 with 19 seconds showing. Mount Vernon committed five turnovers in the stretch, which Lexington (0-1) translated into 10 points. Andru Switzer hit two 3-pointers in the run, and Nick Leasure stole an inbounds pass and hit a layup to bring the margin to two.Mount Vernon senior Duke Cunningham hit one of two free throws to bring the lead to three. Then, with under 10 seconds remaining, Lexington missed a 3. Ashbrook grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
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