MOUNT VERNON — Jeffrey Rucker and his Mount Vernon teammates found themselves in familiar territory Friday night at The Hive.
The Yellow Jackets were undersized at nearly every spot on the floor, but still managed to dominate the glass in a 60-40 Ohio Cardinal Conference win over Ashland.
The 6-foot-2 Rucker did all of his damage at or near the rim against the Arrows, who boast four regulars who are 6-foot-5 or taller.
“I guess are kids are just used to it, now maybe not used to 6-5 across the board like (Ashland) had, but we did a good job for the most part of blocking out and rebounding it and offensively tracking down some rebounds,” Mount Vernon coach Nick Coon said. “Jeffrey is 6-2ish, but he is a quick jumper and has a knack for grabbing the ball and getting it into his body.
“We were doing a good job of going after the ball when it was loose or in the air. That’s big for all of our guys, Jeffrey included.”
While the Jackets (6-4, 3-2) were able to create several second-chance opportunities with their work on the offensive glass, the Arrows (0-7, 0-4) were largely limited to one shot.
“They were a lot more aggressive in the paint going after the ball,” Ashland coach Jason Hess said. “I thought we did a nice job with our length of disrupting some of their shots because a lot of the shots they were missing were near the basket, but they would get the offensive rebound and put it back in.
“It seemed like every 50-50 ball went their way tonight and that is effort. That was our problem in the first half, a lack of effort. Offensive rebounds and 50-50 balls are ways to measure effort and our effort hasn’t been very consistent this year.”
Mount Vernon raced out to a 13-6 first-quarter advantage and never looked back. The Jackets led 26-12 at the half and took a 34-16 lead after a Rucker offensive rebound and putback midway through the third period. Ashland closed the quarter on a 9-4 run and trailed 38-25 going to the fourth.
The Arrows pulled within 10 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter but could get no closer thanks largely to Kaden Daniels. The guard scored Mount Vernon’s first six points of the fourth on hard drives to the basket and assisted on layups by Rucker and Tyler Bills as the Jackets kept Ashland at arm’s length.
“For me, it’s just a mentality,” Daniels said. “It’s still a close game in the fourth, but I want to continue to attack.”
Daniels led Mount Vernon with 12 points. Rucker and Bills each had 10, while Collin Bateau added nine.
Kleijhan Randleman scored a team-high 11 points for the Arrows. Mitchell Heilman added 10.
Mount Vernon, which won its third straight, visits Newark on Saturday. Ashland will search for its first win at Toledo Whitmer.
