WASHINGTON - In a back-and-forth battle in which American University men's basketball team's largest crowd of the season saw eight ties and 10 lead changes, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks pulled out a 63-58 overtime victory Saturday at Bender Arena.
After regulation ended in a tie at 53 a piece, Lehigh's Austen Rowland opened the extra session with a three-pointer as the shot clock wound down. The Mountain Hawks then extended their lead to five points on a jumper by Rowland with just over three minutes remaining.
However, the Eagles would not quit. Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./The Potomac School) scored two of his team-high 17 points from the charity stripe, and Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) hit another pair of free throws to get AU back within two points at the 2:39 mark. But the Eagles could only muster one more point in the overtime, on a Draughn free throw, and Lehigh's Nick Monserez iced the game for the visitors when he hit two free throws with 11 seconds to go in the overtime. AU went zero-for-six in the extra session, while the Mountain Hawks hit three of their four shots.
American had a shot to win the game in regulation. With 45 seconds left in regulation, an errant shot by Lehigh resulted in a loose ball on AU's defensive half of the floor. Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) dove for the ball, corralled it and quickly called timeout with 42 seconds left, before a Lehigh player could force a jump ball. American's Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) got off a runner at the buzzer, but it caromed off the glass and out, forcing overtime.
Lehigh opened the game by hitting five of its first six shots to pull out to a 12-4 lead. However, the Eagles, ignited by a three-pointer Andre Ingram, stormed back to pull within one at the 10:34 mark. But the Mountain Hawks responded with another mini run to grab a 20-13 lead.
AU bounced back, scoring 10 of the next 13 points, and took its first lead of the game, 26-23, on another three-pointer by Ingram at the 4:10 mark of the first stanza. After trading buckets, the Mountain Hawks regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Dayne Mickelson with just over a minute remaining in the period. But with 37 seconds left in the half, AU's Matej Cresnik hit a pair of free throws to send the Eagles into the lockerroom with a 30-29 lead.
Rowland led all scorers with 20 points on seven-of-14 shooting, including three-for-five from behind the arc. Jose Olivero added 13 points. Lehigh improves to 10-6, 3-0 in the Patriot League.
Draughn added nine rebounds to his 17 points. Ingram scored 13 points, including three treys, while Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Acad.) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds. The Eagles drop to 8-9, 2-1 in the Patriot League. With a win, AU could have moved to 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
American returns to action on Friday, Jan. 23, when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y., to square off against Colgate University.
