HAMILTON, N.Y. - American University went ahead by a bucket with 1.5 seconds remaining, only to have Colgate's Mark Linebaugh hit a halfcourt shot to pull out the win for the Raiders by a point, 60-59. Glenn Stokes (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) hit the baseline jumper that gave the Eagles a brief 59-57 lead, which had capped off what had been a furious Eagle rally. The Eagles are now 12-13 overall, and 7-5 in the Patriot League.
American took a five-point lead into halftime (29-24), and scored the first five points of the second half on a pair of free throws by Steve Miles (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) and a Stokes three-pointer. The 10-point lead (34-24) was the largest of the game enjoyed by either team.
It looked like the Eagles were beginning to take control, but then just as quickly went into a scoring drought. Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) hit a layup to give AU 36 points at the 16:23 mark, but that was the last bucket they scored for over five minutes (11:03). AU trailed by as many as seven points over the last 11 minutes, but fought back to gain a one-point lead (53-52) by virtue of a Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio) three-pointer. Cresnik tied things up at 57 apiece, when he buried a pair of free throws with 1:04 remaining. Then AU grabbed the lead on Stokes' jumper with 1.5 seconds left (59-57).
Stokes and Miles each had 14 points to lead AU in scoring. Miles also grabbed two boards and dished out one assist. Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) scored six points and notched five rebounds while handing out three assists. Rodriguez finished the game with three assists and five points while Cresnik notched 11 points and five boards.
The Eagles took care of the basketball, turning it over only nine times and they were a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
Colgate was led by Dave Hardy, who scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Linebaugh finished with points and three assists.
American (12-13/7-5) will next play Army on February 27, 2003. The game is at 7:30 p.m. in Bender Arena
