Norwalk grad Haraway reaches 1,000 points at Ashland

ASHLAND — Despite falling out of a first-place tie with a last-second loss, it was a milestone night on Feb. 17 for NCAA Division II Ashland University junior guard Brandon Haraway.A 2019 Norwalk High School graduate, Haraway scored 15 points, which made him the 31st player in AU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Haraway entered the game with 987 points and scored 15 points in the loss for the Eagles against visiting Walsh University.The Cavaliers won the game for sole possession of first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, 70-68. Ashland is 17-8 overall and 13-5 in the Great Midwest, while the Cavaliers are alone in first in the league at 19-6 (14-4).Haraway also led the team with nine rebounds and added four assists. He joins his brother, Ben Haraway, a 2014 Norwalk High School graduate, in the AU 1,000-point club. Along with cousin and 2014 NHS grad Jeff Thomas at Div. I Georgia State, Brandon, Ben and Thomas are the lone players to score 1,000 points at Norwalk and at the collegiate level.Ironically, Ben Haraway scored his 1,000th career collegiate point on Feb. 17, 2018 in a road game while playing for Ashland. Four years to the date, Brandon also reached the milestone. Ben scored 1,060 points at Ashland and scored 1,439 for his career at Malone and AU."Just trying to finish out the season strong," Haraway said. "Wouldn't be here without my teammates. We're going to try to finish out strong. He (my brother) motivates me. Now, I'm just trying to get past him."In a 81-71 win at Malone on Feb. 19, Haraway added 20 points, five assists and three rebounds to his totals.In 23 starts, Haraway is averaging 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the Eagles. He is 113-of-247 shooting from the field (46 percent).Haraway has scored 142 points in the last six games, averaging 23.6 per game in that stretch. The last two weeks have been reminiscent of Haraway's finish to the 2020-21 campaign, in which he averaged 21 points over the last 16 games and was GLIAC Tournament MVP in helping lead AU to the NCAA Tournament.After two dominant games against Tiffin University on Feb. 2 (41 points, 10 rebounds) and Feb. 5 (21 points, six rebounds), Haraway was AU's first GMAC basketball Athlete of the Week award winner on Feb. 7. "He's a great person. He works his butt off, and I'm very proud of him," Ashland head coach John Ellenwood said of Haraway. "He is a wonderful person to coach every single day, and I'm very proud that he's able to join our 1,000-point club here."Ashland will visit Findlay (16-8, 10-6) for another key Great Midwest contest at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.