Erie, Pa. – Drew Noble scored 27 points to lead 11th-ranked Ashland University to an 87-77 victory over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team in the first game of the 36th Annual Gary Miller Classic hosted by Gannon University on Friday evening at the Hammermill Center.

Senior forward Tom Brown (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) led the Dolphins in the setback with his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Ryan Roland (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Mercyhurst) tallied 11 of his 13 points in the first half, while dishing out six assists in the second half. Graduate student guard Oshea Gairey (Toronto, Ontario/St. John's Catholic Prep (Md.)/Simon Fraser) scored seven of his 10 points in the second half.

Noble, the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year after being named to the GLIAC All-Conference First Team and NABC Midwest Region First Team last year, scored 13 points in the first half and posted 14 in the second half, while grabbing seven rebounds. Aaron Thompson, who was named to the All-GLIAC second team and GLIAC All-Defensive team last season, recorded his second double-double of the year with 24 points, including 14 in the second half, and 10 rebounds, including five in each half. Rodrick Caldwell was the third Eagle to score over 20 points with 21, including 14 in the first half, while adding four assists. Derek Koch added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

After Caldwell gave Ashland a 4-2 lead, the Dolphins scored eight straight points and 12 of the next 16 points to take their largest lead of the game, 14-6, with 15:44 remaining in the first half. Roland started the run with a three-pointer, graduate student forward Lonnie Rivera (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep (N.J.)/American/Wagner) scored five points in the span and sophomore guard Nino Hernandez (Gardner, Mass./Winchendon School/Bryant) and Brown made lay-ups.

Ashland countered with seven straight points to get within one, but the Dolphins answered with the next six points, including the last four by Roland, to regain a seven-point lead.

The Eagles responded with a 13-4 run over 7:51 to take the lead back. Thompson scored five of the points, Koch hit a three-pointer, Noble scored in the paint and Caldwell put his team in front with a three-pointer with 3:35 to go.
 
After the teams traded the lead three times, Thompson hit a three-pointer for the last lead change of the half and Noble followed with two free throws. The teams split the last 14 points of the half, including a three-pointer by Noble with four seconds left to give the Eagles a 40-36 lead at halftime.

The Eagles pushed their lead to seven on a pair of occasions in the opening two minutes of the second half, the second of which came on a conventional three-point play by Thompson for a 47-40 lead.

After the Dolphins scored six straight points to get within one and Ashland pushed its lead back to five, the Dolphins scored five points in 21 seconds and nine of the next 11 points to take a 59-57 lead with 11:17 to play. Roland made a lay-up and Gairey followed with a conventional three-point play to tie the score at 55. After Ashland regained the lead, sophomore forward BB Chuks-Mady (Hamilton, Ontario/GTA Prep) made a lay-up and Gairey converted two foul shots for a two-point edge.

Following a three-point play by Thompson and a free throw by Chuks-Mady to deliver the game's final tie at 60, Ashland regained the lead for good on at three-pointer by Koch.

After the Dolphins got within one on a pair of occasions, the last of which came at 65-64 with 8:42 remaining, the Eagles scored eight straight points and 12 of the next 14 points to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 77-66, with 3:05 to play. Caldwell scored the first three points, Koch scored the next three and then Thompson scored four points around a jumper by Noble.

Ashland's lead bounced between eight and 11 points over the final minutes of the contest as the Eagles went 10-of-12 down the stretch from the foul line.

Le Moyne (3-4), which has played three ranked teams in a month for the first time since February 1993, takes on Alderson Broaddus University in the Classic's consolation game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The teams also met in the consolation game of the 32nd Gary Miller Classic on November 28, 2015, a 76-64 win by the Battlers.