SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) and Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) combined for 44 points, but it was not enough as Notre Dame came away with a 78-74 victory over the Eagles. American is now 3-6, and will next play in the Rainbow Classic.
American led at the half by a point (35-34) and continued to build on the lead in the second half. In fact, for a stretch in the second half AU was perfect from the field. The score was 43-43 with 14:36 remaining in the game when Ingram got things started with a jumper. AU would not miss another shot until there was just 3:51 left. American scored 26 points on 11 straight made field goals, and led by four points (69-65). Cresnik had three three-pointers during the streak while Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) had seven points during the run. Overall five different Eagles contributed baskets.
A Chris Thomas free throw tied things up at 69 apiece with 2:02 remaining. The Irish built the lead to five, and eventually pulled out the victory. Thomas had eight free throws in the last two minutes of the game and scored Notre Dame's final 13 points.
Ingram scored a career-high 23 points on eight-of-11 shooting (three treys) and hauled down six rebounds. He hit a three with 1.6 seconds left to bring AU within two points (76-74), but Thomas hit both free throws to seal the game. Thomas led all scorers with 28 points and was nine-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Cresnik came off the bench and sparked AU's offensive immediately. He scored 21 points on seven-of-10 shooting, including five-of-six from behind the arc.
Rodriguez played very well for the Eagles with 13 points, nine assists and six rebounds. The nine assists give him 301 in his AU career, which is good for sixth in AU's all-time assist category.
Senior Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) netted 10 points on five-of-six shooting . Sophomore Jarrod Kohl (Ravenna, Ohio/Crestwood) started his first game as an Eagle, and contributed a block, rebound and assist in eight minutes.
"In the first half we shot well, but we also got good shots," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "Late in the second half Notre Dame got more aggressive defensively, and that is why we had some trouble scoring."
Notre Dame was led by Thomas, but Chris Quinn chipped in 19 points with five threes. Torin Francis added 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
AU will next play Pepperdine on Sunday, Dec.28, in the first round of the Rainbow Classic Game time is 7:30 p.m.
