UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- American men's basketball began its first postseason play in two years this afternoon as they advanced to the seminfinals of the Patriot League Tournament, defeating Lehigh 82-69. Patriot League Second Team All-League selection Glenn Stokes lead all scorers with 23. Patriot League Player of the Year Patrick Doctor recorded his 20th double-double of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles move to 17-11 on the season while the Mountain Hawks finish the season at 5-23.
Early in the first half, both American and Lehigh were working quickly on the offensive end. The game was tight for the first seven minutes with the biggest lead being a 12-9 Eagle advantage. Andres Rodriguez scored eight of the first nine American points to provide the offensive spark.
Coming out of the first media timeout, the Eagles went on a 6-2 run behind three-pointers by Nick Boyd and Demek Adams, forcing Lehigh to take a timeout. The run was aided by a huge block by Boyd on a Lehigh fastbreak. The American accuracy from behind the arc as Boyd connected on another three and Vladimir Buscaglia drained one as well.
"When everybody's hitting their shots it picks up our whole game."
- American guard Glenn Stokes |
American's amazing three-point shooting continued in the first half as Buscaglia hit two more three-pointers and Stokes made one to stretch the Eagle lead to 39-22. American had an incredible first half from behind the arc, shooting nine-for-12 (75 percent). The Eagles also shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the first stanza. "When everybody's hitting their shots it picks up our whole game. Our defense gets that much better," Stokes said.
The fast paced action continued in the second half. The Mountain Hawks closed the gap to six as the Eagles could muster only six points in the first seven minutes of the half. Three free throws by Boyd, two by Stokes and one by Patriot League Player of the Year Patrick Doctor helped the American lead grow to 12. After going scoreless in the first half, Steven Miles scored five straight Eagle points, including his second three-pointer of the afternoon. Stokes reeled off five straight of his own as the American lead stood at 15 with 8:35 to play.
Lehigh stuck around in the second half, staying in the game with baskets by Scott Taylor and Zlatko Savovic. However, the Mountain Hawks could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way as the Eagles went 12-for-16 from the foul line in the last five minutes including five-for-five by Stokes to seal the victory.
The Eagles cooled off from three-point range in the second half, but still made 12 for the game, the fourth most ever for an American squad. Five Eagles were in double figures in the game. In addition to Doctor and Stokes, Boyd added 12, Miles scored 11 and Rodriguez finished with 10.
"We knew it was going to take a good effort to beat Lehigh and we performed well today."
- Head Coach Jeff Jones |
After the game, Head Coach Jeff Jones said, "We are very pleased to get through the first round. We knew it was going to take a good effort to beat Lehigh and we performed well today." Jones pinpointed the turning point of the game saying "When we stretched the lead in the first half behind the outstanding play from our guys off the bench it gave us the breathing room we needed for the rest of the game."
American advances to the Patriot League Semifinals to be played Sunday at 5:00 p.m. at the Show Place Arena. The Eagles will face the winner of No. 5 Lafayette, who defeated Colgate 74-71.
