WASHINGTON – Building a huge early lead proved crucial for American University men's basketball as the Eagles led from wire to wire after a hot Senior Day start. In the final game of the regular season, AU came away with a 65-55 victory against visiting Loyola Maryland.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles had a nearly all-senior starting lineup, and they used that Senior Day emotion from the get-go.
• Josh Alexander's opening bucket started a 14-0 run, with the Eagles holding the Greyhounds scoreless for seven and a half minutes.
• The first three-pointer for Johnny O'Neil made it a 17-2 lead, and his layup at 11:07 had the Eagles up 19-2 after hitting nine of their first 11 shots from the floor.
• Stacy Beckton Jr. hit a pair of free throws at 2:58 of the first half for AU's first 20-point lead, 32-12.
• With 49 seconds left in the half, Beckton Jr. drained a shot from long range to reach 11 points for the game.
• Halftime saw the Eagles leading 35-14 after shooting 61 percent to Loyola Maryland's 21 percent.
• Early in the second half the Eagles took their largest lead of the game, 23 points on a bucket by Beckton Jr., but the Greyhounds picked up the pace and used a 10-0 run to make it a 13-point game at 17:14.
• The Eagles shot just 43.5 percent in the second half, and a few scoreless stretches allowed Loyola to make it a game down the stretch.
• Rebounding was crucial all game long, particularly as AU struggled from the field at times in the second half. Lorenzo Donadio helped keep possession with AU on a number of occasions, tying his career high six rebounds with 12 minutes left.
• With a 9-2 run, the Greyhounds got within five points with four minutes remaining. O'Neil came up huge in the final minutes to stop the comeback hopes for Loyola, scoring five points and blocking two shots.
• Five was as close as Loyola would get and AU remained strong at the free throw line all game long, going 13-for-14.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Beckton Jr. led AU with 22 points, hitting 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line.
• Finishing with three triples, O'Neil posted 17 points and tied for the team high with eight rebounds.
• Colin Smalls and Matt Rogers scored 10 points apiece, with Rogers adding six rebounds and four assists.
• Donadio also recorded eight rebounds, a career high for him.
• The Eagles out-rebounded the Greyhounds 36-25 and shot 52 percent for the game to Loyola's 33 percent.

UP NEXT

• American finishes as the No. 10 seed in the Patriot League, and will travel to No. 7 seed Holy Cross for a first round game in the PL Tournament on Tuesday, March 1. The Eagles swept Holy Cross in the regular season.

KEEP UP WITH US

• For the latest on American University Men's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_MBasketball), Facebook (/AU.MBasketball) and Instagram (@au_mbasketball).