Box Score
Nine different players scored and the No. 3 American University
men's basketball team never trailed on its way to a 57-40 victory
over No. 6 Army to advance to the Patriot League Semifinals. The
Eagles will now travel to Lehigh to take on the No. 2 Mountain
Hawks on Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m.
American recorded its 20th victory with the win, marking the
program's fourth 20-win season in five years. The Eagles also
improved to a perfect 11-0 in Patriot League Quarterfinal
match-ups.
"For such an ugly game it was beautiful for us," said Head Coach
Jeff Jones following the game. "We
played awfully hard and both teams played really, really hard. It
was a really physical game, a lot of contact, but the big thing was
we just kind of outlasted them. We had a lot of different guys chip
in. We were able to have other guys step up. It's a good win."
Daniel
Munoz recorded a team-high 11 points to lead the
Eagles' scorers. Charles
Hinkle tallied nine rebounds while Munoz also added
four assists and two steals.
American (20-10, 10-4) opened the game with back-to-back three's
from Troy
Brewer and Munoz and jumped out to an 11-5 lead off a
jumper from Brewer at 11:45. Munoz tallied another three and
Simon
McCormack added the three-point play for a 17-9 lead
with 5:13 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles closed out the half on a 6-0 run, with Hinkle adding
a fade-away jumper as the shot clock expired for the 23-11 halftime
lead.
Munoz led the Eagles with six points in the first half as Brewer
and Hinkle each posted five. Riley
Grafft and Munoz each posted a team-high four
rebounds. American shot 36.0 percent from the field and 40.0
percent from beyond the arc as Army was held to 16.7 percent
shooting from the field and went just 1-of-11 from three-point
range. Julian Simmons had a team-high five points for the Black
Knights.
American opened the second half on a 9-2 run as Munoz hit his
third three-pointer of the game for the 32-13 lead with 15:59
remaining. The Eagles continued to roll and took their largest lead
of the game, 39-17, after two buckets from Blake
Jolivette and a lay-up from McCormack on three
straight possessions with 11:24 to play.
Army (12-18, 5-9) was able to cut American's lead to 41-30 with
a three from Chris Gramling at 6:25. The Black Knights were able to
bring it within 12 points in the closing minutes off a three-point
play from Ella Ellis, 49-37, with 2:49 remaining. But the Eagles
closed out the game converting 6-of-6 free throws with a pull-up
jumper from Hinkle for the 57-40 final score.
The Eagles shot 39.1 percent from the field and 35.3 percent
from beyond the arc in the game, holding Army to 26.3 percent and
15.4 percent from three-point range. Ellis led all scorers with 13
points and 10 rebounds.
"We play the game on the court, and we're going to do everything
we can to find a way to win," Coach Jones said about Saturday's
match-up. "Lehigh's a terrific team. CJ McCollum's a very, very
good player, but I like our team too."
A limited number of seats are available in the AU section for
Saturday's semifinal match-up. Tickets can be purchased by calling
202-885-TIXX or via email to kparker@american.edu. Tickets are $12 for
adults and $6 for youth 17 and under. The game will also be
broadcast on CBS Sports Network.