CLINTON, Iowa - The Ashford University (11-6, 2-1 MCC) men's basketball team headed home for the holidays with a key conference win in its pocket after a stirring offensive display against Iowa Wesleyan College (6-8, 1-2 MCC) on Tuesday.

While the 93-75 rout was plenty of momentum heading into 2010, the latest Saints' victory had several shining individual moments.

Junior guard Mike Relerford of Rockford, Ill., tied the single-game school record by dishing out 14 assists. His helpers were the most since Mount St. Clare's Sean Hellweg handed out 14 dimes against William Penn University in 2003.

Relerford has been handed the keys to the Saints' controls from day one and is the catalyst behind the nation's fourth-best offense in total scoring coming into tonight's game. The transfer from Lincoln Trail College (Ill.) still leads all players on the NAIA Div. II level in total assists and his latest effort was as impressive as any.

From the fast break to the half-court set, Relerford has operated with efficiency and consistently found open teammates while dazzling the crowd in the process.

"Tonight, I think we executed the gameplan well," Relerford said. "We had a couple defensive breakdowns early on, but we talked about them at the half. I think our defense is the main thing we have to focus on. The offense is there."

Senior guard Daniel Joiner of West Chicago, Ill., scored a team-high 24 points, whittling the magic number down to 46 to become the school's all-time leading scorer.

Joiner got to the bucket at will in the first half and connected on a pair of trifectas for 16 of his team-high 24 points in the opening frame.

Senior guard Byron Emerson of Rockford, Ill., added a season-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while pulling down eight rebounds and handing out six assists. Junior guard Devin Ehrich of Thomson, Ill., contributed 15 points off the bench for the third time this year.

The Saints had Iowa Wesleyan reeling in the early going, racing out to a 14-3 lead just over four minutes in.

Relerford sandwiched four consecutive assists in the game-opening run and had nine helpers by halftime.

"We actually stressed that we needed to come out strong with a lot of intensity so we came out, played hard and tried to put them away in the first five minutes" Relerford added. "I love playing with D.J. and Byron. D.J. can shoot the three and Byron is a slasher -- it gives me the best of both worlds."

The Saints' defense bottled up one of the MCC's top offensive threats in explosive Iowa Wesleyan guard Reggie Shipp, containing the Tigers' leading scorer to 16 points on just 6-of-20 shooting.

Ashford's offense was rolling, leading by 17 on a layup by Joiner to creep nearly halfway to the century mark by halftime, leading 48-34.

IWC would attempt to hang around in the second half, but the Saints upped their lead to 20 after a three-point play by sophomore forward Matthias Burns of Chicago. The Tigers would get no closer than 13 points in the final 10 minutes.

The Saints continue conference play and open 2010 in Oskaloosa at William Penn University for a 7:30 p.m. showdown on Jan. 6.