ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Steve Miles (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) scored 27 points, including 18 in the first half, to lead American University (11-11, 6-3 PL) to a well earned road win over Navy (6-16, 2-7 PL). Along with his scoring, Miles collected six rebounds, two assists and one steal in 38 minutes of action.
"This was just a very good win for us," said American head coach Jeff Jones. "Navy pushed us to our limits, but Steve (Miles) had a great game for us and Andres (Rodriguez) did a really nice job of distributing the ball."
In the first half the Eagles were playing well, and even led by a point, 14-13, after Miles knocked down a three with 12:41 left. However, AU would go nearly six full minutes before scoring another point. At 6:28 Miles finally broke the spell with another three, which cut the deficit to four points (21-17). As fast as AU went cold, they got hot again, and scored 13 points over the last 4:55 of the half, eventually taking a three-point halftime lead (32-29). Miles finished the first half with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
Early foul trouble kept Glenn Stokes (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) and Jernavis Draughn (Potomac, Va./Triangle) on the bench for most of the first half. Stokes scored three points in nine minutes, while Draughn managed four points in eight minutes. However, both would make big contributions in the second half. Stokes finished with 12 points in 24 minutes and Draughn knocked down 12 points and grabbed five boards.
Navy was led by David Hooper, who knocked down four first half treys and scored 12 first-half points and 24 for the game. Early in the second half, Hooper and Taj Matthews helped Navy jump out to an early seven-point lead (43-36). American responded by going on a 13-0 run to seemingly take control of the game. Stokes got things started with three-pointer and then Miles hit two free throws, a three-pointer and a layup, before Stokes ended the run with another trey. The 13 points took less than three minutes (14:06 - 10:45) and was ended only when Navy's Jason Jeanpierre knocked down a jumper.
The Mids made one more run of their own, knotting things up at 55 apiece with 3:50 left in the game. However, Draughn snapped the tie with a conventional three-point play, and Stokes followed with a trifecta as AU built a six-point lead (61-55) with 1:14 left.
It was not over just yet. Navy had one more chance and with 13 seconds left and the Eagles up a point, 62-61. Navy's Hooper had the ball in the paint, but when he tried to score he was whistled for an offensive foul. Miles received the inbounds pass and was immediately fouled. He hit both free throws to put the game away.
Andres Rodriguez (San Juan Puerto Rico/Louisville) led everyone with seven assists while Jason Thomas (Herndon, Va./Notre Dame Prep) had a career-high eight rebounds and seven points in just 18 minutes of action.
American won the battle of the boards by two (34-32), and turned the ball over just ten times, while creating 18 turnovers. AU connected on ten treys as a team, the sixth time this season the Eagles have had ten or more.
The win over Navy is AU's third road win of the year and lifts them to 11-11 overall and 6-3 in conference play. They will next host Lehigh on February 15, 2003 at Bender Arena. The game is at 1:00 p.m.
