EASTON, Pa. – A dramatic final minute that saw a long two-point jumper under review to possibly tie the game with 2.4 seconds left, four Leopards timeouts, and the Eagles scoring nine points from the field was how a game that started with slow back and forth scoring finished when the American University basketball team (3-15, 2-5 PL) fell just short to Lafayette (5-12, 2-5 PL) on the road. Emily Johns led the charge for the Eagles for a second game in a row with 15 points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Johns went 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from the line to finish the afternoon with 15 points. She also added seven rebounds, an assist, and a steal to her line on the stat sheet.
• Anna LeMaster went 3-8 in the final period adding 10 points of her own to assist in the Eagles' campaign. The junior went 3-8 and 1-2 from the line, padding her stat line with two rebounds, two assists, and two steals as well as a block.
• Molly Lavin went 5-6 from the free throw line and added two triples of her own in the fame to contribute 11 points. The freshman forward also had seven rebounds and a steal.
• The Leopards were led in scoring by Makayla Andrews and Abby Antognoli with 19 and 12 points respectively. Defensively, Lafayette was led by Antognoli with nine boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lauren Stack won the tip and grabbed the Eagles the first basket of the game, but it was a slow start for both teams, the Leopards not grabbing the second bucket of the game until the 6:36 mark.
• Lafayette then went on a 7-2 run to open the first, leading 7-4 and shooting 50% from the field at the midway point of the first period.
• The first finished in a more even fashion, with Lafayette leading by a score of 12-8. The Leopards were shooting 38% and the Eagles shooting just 27% from the field. All eight of American's points had come in the paint.
• The second period saw a scoring drought from the Eagles who went five minutes without scoring a field goal while the Leopards scored five to go up 17-8 before Johns knocked one down for American and the Eagles brought it back to 14-17 with 4:11 remaining in the half.
• At the break, Lafayette had a 21-17 lead. The two teams were close to equal in rebounding, with the Leopards having the 21-20 edge, and American had eight turnovers to Lafayette's nine.
• The Leopards started the second half with a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 11 at the midway point in the period before American responded with a three-pointer from Molly Lavin to break the Lafayette run.
• That triple from Lavin seemed to be the driving force of an American push-back, American out-scoring their opponents in a period for the first time all game; at the end of the quarter, the Eagles trailed 30-39.
• In the fourth, the teams started off even, each scoring six apiece with just under seven minutes left to play in the contest. American outrebounding their opponents 4-1 in the opening minutes of the frame and shooting 50% from the field.
• LeMaster had all her points come in the final quarter, adding three triples to keep the Eagles in the contest as time was winding down in Easton.
• Down three, Johns got the ball with 2.4 second left on the clock and scored a long two-point jumper that was under review for a possible three but was just a toe too short to tie up the game.
• In the end, the final push back from the Eagles wasn't enough and the hosting Leopards took the contest 59-57.

UP NEXT
The Eagles are back in Bender Arena on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. for Phil Bender District Day against Colgate. After that, the squad is back on the road against Army West Point on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now at AUEagles.com/Tickets!
 
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