CLINTON, IOWA – The top-seeded Ashford University men's basketball team took to their home floor on Friday night for the opening round of the 2014 Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Division II Men's Basketball Championship, facing #4-seed Fisher College (Mass.)

Playing their first game in 13 days, the Saints got a scare from their opponents in the semifinal round. But the Saints made critical plays down the stretch when they needed to, holding off the Falcons, 80-74, to advance to Saturday's championship game.

Five Saints recorded double-figures with 22 coming from A.I.I. Defensive Player of the Year DeAndre Lowery Jr. Conference Player of the Year Anthony Woods notched his first career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as AU moved to 23-8 on the year.

"It's good to take the next step and move on in the tournament," Head Coach Oliver Drake said. "Our kids made plays at the right times and come through when we needed them. It wasn't our best game and we know we need to be mentally sharper tomorrow if we want to cut down the nets. This time of year, you're going to get everyone's best shot. Fisher did a good job of coming back but it was good for us to face that adversity and make plays down the stretch."

With the game knotted up at 12 early on, the Saints ripped off a 15-2 run to open up a double-digit lead. Fisher would close the gap to four late in the half, but a late surge gave AU a 39-30 lead at the intermission.

The lead would grow to as many as 15 in the second half, but the Falcons wouldn't be intimidated by the top-seeded Saints, clawing their way back into the game. A Kyle Holmes three-pointer cut the AU lead to 61-56, forcing an AU timeout.

Fisher continued to nip at the Saints' heels, trimming the lead down to 72-69 after a pair of Tyler Shular free throws. But the Saints responded on the very next possession when Woods knocked down a huge three-pointer in the corner with 1:42 to play. From there, the Saints relied on defense and free throw shooting to close out the game and advance to the title game.

Shular and Holmes each finished with 18 points to lead the Falcons, who finished the season with a 13-18 record. Thaddeus Perry (16 pts), Tevin Harris (13 pts) and Damon Overton (10 pts) all reached double-figures for Ashford, who shot 48.4% (30-for-62) on the night.

Courtesy of Ashford Athletics