Jan. 10, 2005

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - American University's men's basketball team led by 22 at halftime and after sustaining a furious Yale rally held on for a 69-65 victory. The Eagles are now 7-6 on the season.

"We wanted to come out ready to play and be aggressive and I think we did that and played with a lot of enthusiasm," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "In the second half I don't think we played poorly I just think Yale played very well and established themselves as the aggressors."

The second half started with both teams turning the ball over several times before Yale's Dominick Martin broke the ice with a hoop. The basket by Martin started a 12-0 run for the Bulldogs, which had started the second half trailing by 22 points (47-25). Sam Kaplan gave Yale 29 points and then Casey Hughes made a hoop and was fouled. He missed the free throw but Edwin Draughan grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a 10-footer on the baseline. AU then turned the ball over and Draughan went down the court for a layup.

AU called a 30 second timeout but misfired on their next shot. Yale grabbed the rebound and Hughes scored to complete the 12-0 run (47-37). Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania / Lithuanian Physical Culture) broke the run with a baseline hook to put the Eagles back up 12 (49-37) at 16:04

A pair of Sam Kaplan buckets cut the lead to seven at 14:11 but Patrick Okpwae (Yaounde, Cameroon / Berkshire School) completed a three-point play to boost the Eagle lead back to 10 (12:55).Yale would not back down and went on an 8-0 run which was capped off by an offensive rebound and bucket by Dexter Upshaw to bring Yale to within two points, 52-50. Ingram broke the run with a layup at 8:10 to push the lead to four (54-50). A steal and jam by Hughes cut it to two again (54-52) at 7:25

Okpwae blocked a shot attempt off of Hughes and the Eagles seemed to settle down. Cresnik and Thomas each hit free throws and AU once again had a five point lead with 3:48 remaining.

With the score 58-56 (3:33) Ingram drove to the basket was fouled and converted. It pushed the score to 60-56 and then Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia / Univerza V Ljubljani) grabbed a rebound at 2:50 and went back up and got the bucket and was fouled. He converted to give AU a 63-56 with 2:28 to play.

Kaplan cut it five and then Martin scored in the paint with 31 seconds left to make it a three point game (63-60). Yale fouled Okpwae after the inbounds pass and responded by hitting both free throws to secure a five point lead. Martin once again scored with 17 seconds left. This time the Bulldogs fouled Ingram, who buried both free thows with 16 seconds left. Draughn then buried a three with 3.7 ticks left on the clock to make it 67-65. Okpwae was fouled again and he answered again, making both free throws.

In the first half Jason Thomas (Herndon, Va. / Notre Dame Academy) scored the first nine points of the game on three threes and Cresnik added seven points early and his three at 11:49 gave the Eagles an 11-point lead (24-13). After Yale responded with a field goal and free throw Thomas drove into the lane and put in a one-handed layup. Linas Lekavicius (Silale, Lithuania / The Miller School) followed by driving to the basket and banked in a bucket off the left side of the glass to give AU a 28-16 lead. Lekavicius' shot caused Yale coach James Jones to call time out. It did not help as Ryan Graham (St. John, New Brunswick / Brewster Academy) scored another inside the paint and Petrauskas knocked down a pair of free throws at 6:56 to give AU a 32-16 lead.

The two teams traded baskets for nearly five minutes before Andre Ingram grabbed an offensive rebound and scored his first hoop of the night at 1:16. On AU's next possession he buried a three to put the Eagles up 20, 45-25 with 50 seconds left in the half. AU's defense stopped the Bulldogs again and on the last possession of the half Cresnik buried a 15-footer from the right side to put the Eagle lead at 22 (47-25), its largest of the half.

The Eagles next challenge will come on Jan 12, against the Naval Academy. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.