HONOLULU, Hawaii - American University men's basketball team came back from a five-point second half deficit to defeat Bowling Green by nine points, 73-64. For the second game in a row American was led in scoring by Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs), who finished with 19 points. American is now 4-7.
American played a tremendous first half against the Falcons and went into halftime up 11 points (39-28) thanks to a three by Ingram with just two seconds left. Overall, Ingram had 10 points in the first 20 minutes, while Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Draughn finished the game with 16 points (six-of-13 shooting) and 11 rebounds for the second double-double of his career.
The second half was a different story for AU as Bowling Green went on a 21-10 run to tie the game up at 49 apiece (9:54). The Falcons went on to build a five-point lead before AU got rolling again. Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza Ljubljani) started a seven-point run with a three-pointer and Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) followed with a free throw. When Ingram knocked down a three, American had regained the lead at 61-59 (6:45) and would not trail again. Petrauskas had a career-high 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes.
American shot 57.1 percent in the second half (4-of-7) from behind the arc and 50 percent for the game (6-of-12). Despite playing with foul trouble freshman Linas Lekavicius (Silale, Lithuania/The Miller School) had another standout game for AU. He was five-of-nine from the field and finished with 11 points and a block in 24 minutes. Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) scored five points and handed out nine assists in 38 minutes.
The Falcons were led by Ron Lewis, who finished with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting, He had four treys and five rebounds in 36 minutes of play. John Reimold chipped in 16 points, including three-of-nine from behind the arc.
AU will next play on Tuesday, Dec. 30, when they take on East Tennessee State in the consolation game of the Rainbow Classic. Game time is 1:30 p.m. (Hawaiian time).
