WEST POINT, NY -- Continuing its strong play and outstanding outside shooting, American proved to be too much in the second half as it ran past Army, 74-59, here on Wednesday evening.
Army (10-12, 4-5 PL) came out strong early, and rode the outside shooting of J.P. Spatola to take a six-point lead (10-4) just five minutes in. After American (13-9, 7-2 PL) sliced the margin to one, the Black Knights once again jumped out to a seizable advantage, this time leading 21-14 with 7:21 to play in the opening period.
The Eagles closed the period with a small run, and went into the lockerroom down, 34-32. American shot an impressive 61.9 percent from the floor in the first half, but 10 turnovers were converted into 14 Black Knight points.
On the strength of outside shooting by Steven Miles, and the inside presence of Patrick Doctor, American took control of the game early in the second half. The Eagles rolled out an 18-7 run over the first five minutes, thirty seconds of the second half to take control of the game. Miles knocked down two early threes and scored eight points during the spurt.
The Eagles pounded the ball inside to Doctor, who scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the period. He converted all eight free throw chances, and also pulled down seven rebounds on the night.
For the game, American was an incredible 20 of 21 from the free-throw line, including 16 of 17 in the second half, and 12 of 12 in the last five minutes of the game.
Glenn Stokes switched over from long distance to the free-throw line as well. After knocking down two three's early in the contest, he stepped to the free throw line for a perfect eight-of-eight performance. In his last three games, he is averaging 19.3 points. In addition, Miles finished with 15 points and seven rebounds and Keith Gray tied his season-high with 10 points.
Andres Rodriguez had a game-high six assists to go along with six points and a steal. Chris Spatola led Army with 17 points on three-of-six shooting from three-point range.
American plays the second leg of its current three-game roadtrip when it travels to Easton, PA, for an important matchup with Lafayette on Saturday, Feb. 9. American then concludes the trip by facing Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
GAME NOTES - The win solidified the Eagles' hold on first place in the Patriot League, as they stand one game in front of Holy Cross, which was a 76-70 victor over Lafayette in Worcester, MA ... Miles has had three of his biggest rebounding games of the season against the U.S. Service Academies ... against Army on Jan. 12, he recorded a then-career high 10 boards before pulling down a career-best 14 against Navy last Wednesday ... tonight he had seven ... Stokes has improved his scoring average by almost two points over the last week ... Doctor had his highest point total since Jan. 5 when he scored 17 against Fairfield ... the loss was Army's first home league defeat of the season ... American improved to 6-5 on the road in 2001-02 overall, and 3-1 in Patriot League road contests.
