WORCESTER, Mass. - Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza Ljubljani) led all scorers with 15 points and added five rebounds to help lead the American University men's basketball team to a 62-59 victory over Holy Cross. It is the first time AU has won at Holy Cross, and the Eagles are 10-9 overall, and 4-1 in Patriot League play.
Holy Cross had taken a one point lead (19-18) with 11:42 left in the first half and held onto the lead until Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) converted a Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) pass for a layup with 4:15 remaining in the game. The bucket gave AU a 52-51 lead. Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) pushed the lead to three when he stole a pass from Holy Cross' Kevin Hamilton and went the length of the floor for a layup.
Cresnik then grabbed a missed Jave Meade shot and fed it to Rodriguez, who found Draughn for another layup and the Eagles emerged with a five-point Eagle lead (56-51). Rodriguez then grabbed another missed Crusader shot, and was fouled. He promptly sank both free throws to give AU a 58-51 lead with 43 seconds left in the game.
Meade scored with 34 seconds left to cut the AU lead to five. It was Holy Cross' second basket since 12:06. Greg Kinsey followed with a three to cut the margin to a single bucket. However, Rodriguez was fouled again, and hit one of two free throws to push the lead to three. Rodriguez hit three more free throws in the last 18 seconds to finish the scoring for American.
Rodriguez notched 14 points, including 10-of-13 from the free throw line, three rebounds, six assists and three steals in 40 minutes of action. It is the seventh time this year he has played the entire game for AU. Cresnik was six-of-nine from the field, including a perfect three-of-three from beyond the arc, and chipped in five boards in 26 minutes.
Draughn was perfect from the field, shooting four-of-four from the field and collected seven rebounds and a season-high five assists. With the Eagles facing early foul trouble, Patrick Okpwae (Yaounde, Cameroon/Berkshire School) provided tremendous support off the bench. In 11 minutes of action Okpwae scored seven points on two-of-three field goal attempts, grabbed three boards and swatted one shot.
Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) finished with five points and two boards, but it is the 17th straight game he has hit a three.
The Eagles once again started off the game fast, racing out to a 7-2 lead just two minutes into the game. Cresnik started things off with a three, and Rodriguez followed with a layup and two free throws. AU managed to keep the lead for the first 12 minutes of the game thanks in part to a stifling defense, which caused the Crusaders to call three timeouts to avoid turnovers. However, Holy Cross eventually grabbed the lead in the first stanza when Torey Thomas hit a three, giving them a 19-18 lead. They held it until late in the second stanza.
Meade and Kinsey each had 14 points to lead Holy Cross. Meade also registered five boards and seven assists while Kinsey collected three boards, three assists and four threes.
AU will next host Lafayette on Friday, Jan. 30. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
