Box Score The American University men's basketball team cut a 14-point deficit to eight with 10 minutes to play, but could not complete its comeback in a 61-46 loss at No. 6/6 Pittsburgh Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Vlad Moldoveanu scored a game-high 23 points with 14 coming in the second half. He was 9-of-21 from the floor as American (7-5) finished the game shooting 41.3 percent. Stephen Lumpkins added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
"All it takes is a quick glance at the stat sheet to see the story of the game," Head Coach Jeff Jones stated. "Pitt came in as one of the top rebounding teams in the country and they didn't disappoint. I think we competed well for a while but just couldn't hang."
Pittsburgh (12-1) outrebounded American by a 41-24 margin, which included 18 offensive rebounds. The Panthers scored 11 of their points off second-chance opportunities and also turned 11 American turnovers into 14 points. Brad Wanamaker scored a team-high 19 points for the Panthers with six rebounds while Gilbert Brown tallied 15 points and Ashton Gibbs 10.
Moldoveanu scored five of American's first six points, helping the Eagles to a 6-4 lead minutes into the game. Simon McCormack's breakaway layup put American back on top 12-10 before a 17-2 Pittsburgh run opened a 27-14 Panther advantage. Brown hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining, sending the teams into the locker room with Pitt on top 34-18.
American began the game 5-of-8 from the floor but shot just 3-of-13 over the final 11 minutes while committing five turnovers. The Panthers were able to take advantage, scoring nine points off turnovers, and finished the half shooting 48.1 percent.
The Eagles opened the second half on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 36-29. Lumpkins began the stretch with four straight points with Moldoveanu adding the next seven. Moldoveanu later answered back-to-back baskets by Dante Taylor with a three, moving the score to 41-32 just over five minutes in.
American trailed 47-39 following a Moldoveanu jumper but Pittsburgh took control from there on out en route to the 61-46 victory.
The Eagles will return to action December 29-30 when they take part in the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara, Calif. American will first face Fordham on Wednesday the 29th at 11:15 p.m. ET and will then take on either host Santa Clara or Delaware on Thursday the 30th.
