WASHINGTON - Freshman Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) sank two free throws with five seconds left to seal American University's third victory of the season. AU ended up with a 57-53 victory over Howard while Ingram led all scorers with 16 points. American is now 3-4 on the season.

The Eagles seemed to have the game wrapped up when Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) sank two free throws to give AU a 53-45 lead with 3:33 left in the game. It was the second time in the game AU was able to build an eight-point lead. Unfortunately, the Bison then got hot as Louis Ford hit a jumper and then a layup, while James Wilkinson followed with a layup to bring the Bison to within two points (53-51). However, AU's defense stiffened, and only allowed two more Howard points in the final minute of play.

Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) had a tremendous night for the Eagles. Cresnik scored a season-high 14 points on six-of-eight shooting, including two-of-three from behind the arc. He added four rebounds and one steal to his totals. In scoring his 16 points, Ingram was six-of-12 from the field, and hit two treys and grabbed two rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Jason Thomas (Herndon, Va./Notre Dame Academy) contributed 10 points despite being in foul trouble for much of the night.

Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) did not score very much versus Howard, but dished out nine assists, grabbed four rebounds and four steals and for the second time this year played all 40 minutes.

"This was just a tough game for both teams. Baskets were hard to come by and we just had to grind it out," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "We did not play exceptionally well, but we made good plays at critical times."

Seye Aluko led Howard with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Ford managed 13 points and five assists.

The Eagles are now 3-4 overall and are off for until Dec. 18 when they play at St. Francis (Pa.). Game time is set for 7 p.m.