PHILADELPHIA, PA. - Glenn Stokes (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) scored a career-high 27 points, including seven three-pointers, but it was not enough to lift American to victory. AU cut into the University of Pennsylvania's double-digit lead on several occasions, but eventually lost by 11, 66-55.
Stokes' seven three-pointers was the third best game record in AU history. The record is nine and held by Nathan Smith, who did it against George Mason on January 18, 1997. Stokes connected on seven of his ten three point attempts, which is the best three-point shooting game by percentage. The seven treys gives Stokes 83 for his career and puts him 10th on the AU list. For his AU career he is 83-204 (.407), which is the fourth best career percentage of all time. Stokes added four rebounds, and one steal and one assist in 38 minutes of action.
Matej Cresnick (Velenje, Slovenia/University of Ljubljana) had a solid night for the Eagles with nine points and four rebounds in 21 minutes. His aggressive play helped him to the free throw line, where he connected on all five of his attempts. Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithunia/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) led AU in rebounding with six and he also chipped in with five and on block.
In the first half the Eagles overcame an early 14-3 deficit behind three treys by Stokes. A Stokes jumper at 8:26 brought AU to within a bucket (18-16). However, five turnovers and a couple of missed shots kept AU from taking a lead and eventually they went into the half trailing by seven, 29-22.
Despite a playing a much bigger team, the Eagles outrebounded Penn by five boards (33-28) and outshot the Quakers from behind the arc (36.4 - 30.8). However, AU committed a season-high 23 turnovers (which Penn converted into 21 points) and registered just six assists.
Penn had four players in double figures and were led by David Klatzky, who scored 12 points on four treys all in the second half. At one point AU had cut the lead to seven points in the second half (45-38) when Klatzky hit his first three. He scored all 12 points in six minutes to stall a couple of AU runs. Klatzky's last three came with 4:08 remaining and it was the last field goal the Quakers would score on the evening. Unfortunately, the Eagles could not capitalize on their defensive pressure and Penn converted seven-of-ten free throw attempts for the final margin.
American (5-8) has now completed the nonconference part of its' schedule and will begin Patriot League play this Saturday at Bucknell on January 11, 2003. The game is at 3:15 p.m.
