Matt Rogers and Jaxon Knotek
61
VMI VMI 5-7,0-0 SoCon
69
Winner American Americ 8-2,0-0 Patriot
VMI VMI
5-7,0-0 SoCon
61
Final
69
American Americ
8-2,0-0 Patriot
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
VMI VMI 29 32 61
American Americ 35 34 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Beats VMI to Stay Undefeated at Home; Wins Eighth Straight

WASHINGTON – Led by three Eagles in double figures, American University men's basketball (8-2) defeated Virginia Military Institute (5-7) Tuesday night in Bender Arena to win its eighth straight and stay undefeated at home. Junior Matt Rogers totaled a team-high 20 points in the win while junior Lorenzo Donadio recorded a career-high 14 and senior Jaxon Knotek finished with 11 points. 
 
QUICK NOTABLES
  • American has not lost a game in a month, last falling to George Mason on Nov. 13.
  • The Eagles are still off to the program's best start since 2011.
  • Rogers has now scored in double figures in five straight games. He matched his season-high 20 points on Tuesday, setting the season-high first in the Eagles' win over UAlbany on Nov. 29.
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • American jumped out to a 6-0 lead before VMI battled back to take a 7-6 lead early in the game.
  • The two sides traded shots until the score stood at 14-13, in favor of VMI.
  • Donadio then drained back-to-back three-point shots to put American up 19-14 with 10:53 left to play in the half.
  • VMI put in two points but American responded with a 4-0 run to push its lead out to seven.  
  • The Keydets pulled within four, 23-19, with 7:10 left to play in the half before a three-point basket from sophomore Elijah Stephens helped put American back in front by seven.
  • VMI pulled as close to within three with just over a minute to play in the half but two layups by Rogers helped give American a 35-29 lead heading into halftime.
  • American opened up the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 42-29 lead.
  • A few minutes later, the home team took their largest lead of the game, a 14-point lead, off a shot from beyond the arc from Rogers putting the score at 47-33 with 16:38 left to play in the half.
  • VMI started to chip away at American's lead, bringing the score within 10, 50-40, before both teams found themselves in a four-minute scoring drought.
  • The Keydets broke the drought with a three-pointer and continued to slowly chip away at the Eagles' lead, bringing the score to 56-51 with just under seven minutes to play.
  • A shot from beyond the arc from junior Lincoln Ball sparked the Eagles' offense and from there they were able to slowly push their lead out to 11 with 1:23 left to play.
  • The Keydets had the final say in the game, putting the last four points, but the Eagles were able to hang on for the 69-61 win.


INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • American held the 5-0 block advantage.  
  • VMI held the 32-28 rebounding advantage. 
  • American's bench outscored VMI's bench 19-0.
  • The Eagles shot 48.9 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from beyond the arc and 56.3 percent from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
  • American will remain at home for its next contest, welcoming Siena on Thursday, Dec. 22 to close out non-conference action. The game is set for a 1 p.m. start.
  • The Eagles will then open up Patriot League play at Lafayette on Friday, Dec. 30.
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