EASTON, Pa. - Steve Miles (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) scored 21 of his career-high 29 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough as Lafayette defeated American by a point, 67-66. Lafayette's Justin DeBerry equaled Miles' 29 points, but it was his fourth assist of the night that sealed the win for Lafayette. DeBerry fed Mike Farrell for the game-winning bucket with 20.9 seconds remaining.
American trailed 61-53 with 4:45 remaining when Miles helped AU make a final run. He scored 11 points in the last five minutes, including a three with 1:08 left that gave the Eagles a brief lead (66-65). After the layup by Farrell, Miles missed a jumper and the Eagles quickly fouled Rob Dill. Dill missed both free throw attempts and Miles grabbed the rebound with five seconds left and raced up the floor, but could not get off a good shot. Aside from the 29 points he poured in, Miles also led AU in rebounding with seven, dished out two assists and played 40 minutes.
"Steve Miles played a very good game for us tonight," said American head coach Jeff Jones. "But the difference is that Justin DeBerry also played very well and he had more players contributing. Steve can't do it by himself ."
American led by as many as seven in the first half (21-14) when Glenn Stokes (Silver Spring, MD/Albert Einstein) hit a trey with 7:55 remaining. However, AU only scored one point over the next five minutes and Lafayette eventually grabbed the lead at halftime (29-27). Stokes finished with 14 points, five rebounds and an assist.
Lafayette picked up where they left off after halftime. They scored nine of the first 13 points of the half and a field goal by Andrei Capusan gave the Leopards a seven-point bulge (38-31).
Ric Patiejunas (Vilnius, Lithuania/Vilnius College) provided a huge spark in the second half for AU with nine points and finished with 12 for the night to go along with three rebounds. He picked up his fifth foul with 1:55 left in the game and was done after 21 minutes of action.
American won the battle of the boards by one, 35-34, and scored 17 points off of turnovers.
American (8-11/3-3) will next play at Army on February 2, 2003 at Christl Arena. The game is at 3:15 p.m.
