WASHINGTON - Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/University of Ljubljana) scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting to lead American University to a 77-43 victory over the Black Knights of Army. In just 25 minutes of action, Cresnik pulled down four rebounds and handed out one assist, and was perfect from both three-point land (four-of -four) and the free throw line (four-of-four). AU is now 13-13 overall, and 8-5 in the Patriot League.
American got off to a fast start, and were up by 12 points just five minutes into the game (16-4). AU held Army to just 14 points in the half, which was the best defensive effort of the season for the Eagles. Cresnick himself matched the Black Knights, scoring 14 of his 24 points in the first stanza. Steve Miles (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half as well. Miles finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes of action.
In the first game between these two teams, Army's Andy Smith nailed three three-pointers in the first six minutes of the game, including a four-point play that gave Army a brief 12-4 lead (15:19). This time, however, the Eagles were ready for him, and limited him to two first-half points, and just four for the game. He had scored 22 in the first game (2/203). This time, it was Andrew Pawling, who led Army in scoring with seven points and four rebounds.
In the second half, the Eagle lead stayed at about 30 points, until the last eight minutes of the game. AU stretched the lead to 41 points on a jumper by freshman Jamal Caterina (Portland, Me./Brewster Academy), before settling for the final margin of 34 points. The victory margin was the highest for an AU team since they defeated Western Maryland by 37 points (97-60) on November 24, 1998. Caterina finished with four points and two rebounds in just ten minutes.
"I thought we played very unselfishly tonight," said American head coach Jeff Jones. "We really moved well without the ball tonight, set a lot of screens, and made the extra pass before taking a shot."
American won the battle of the boards by 10 (38-28), and scored 17 points off of the 15 turnovers they created. AU also took care of the ball, by handing out 10 assists, while turning the ball over just 10 times. The Eagles shot 43.6 percent from the floor (24-of-55), and an even better 46.2 percent from behind the arc (12-of-26).
American is now 13-13 overall and 8-5 in Patriot League play. They will play the final regular season game of the year at home on March 1, 2003 versus Lafayette. The game is at 1:00 p.m.
