VILLANOVA, Pa. - The first career game for head coach Duane Simpkins was a tough one, as American University men's basketball came up against the #22/20 Villanova Wildcats. After staying with Villanova for much of the first half, the Eagles' shooting suffered in the second and they fell by a final score of 90-63.

Notable Numbers

• Senior Colin Smalls hit 5-of-8 from the floor including 3-of-5 from long range on his way to a game-high 16 points. He also went 3-of-3 at the line.
• Also finishing in double digits for the Eagles was sophomore Jermaine Ballisager Webb with a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• Senior Lorenzo Donadio tied his career high of eight rebounds to lead all players in the game, and junior Elijah Stephens led AU with four assists.
• The Eagles had 12 offensive rebounds to Villanova's 10, leading to a 19-11 advantage in second-chance points.
• Stephens and senior Matt Rogers posted eight points apiece, and sophomore Geoff Sprouse finished with seven.

First Half

• Strong shooting had the Eagles in the game early and gave them the lead on three occasions in the opening 11 minutes.
• The first three-pointer for Stephens put AU up 8-6 at 15:43, and a Donadio jumper made it 14-13 AU with 12:02 left in the half.
• Rogers gave the Eagles their final lead of 17-15 with a trey at 10:58, but the Wildcats picked up the pace from there.
• With a 7-0 run, Villanova took a 22-17 lead under the nine-minute mark.
• Six straight points from Smalls had the Eagles within a point, 24-23 at seven minutes to go, but it was as close as they'd get the rest of the way.
• Villanova's largest lead down the stretch of the first half was 12, and the Wildcats took a 41-31 lead into the break.

Second Half

• Three minutes into the second half, the Eagles' deficit was 18 points after a 10-2 run for the Wildcats.
• The run for Villanova became 19-4 over a five-minute stretch that put the Eagles down by 27.
• With a 5-0 run including buckets for Sprouse and Rogers, AU cut Villanova's lead to 22 with 11 minutes to go.
• That was as close as the Eagles would get, and the Wildcats led by as many as 32 before the final margin of 27.

Next Up

• The Eagles will play one more on the road, heading to William & Mary for a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday, Nov. 9. The home opener has American hosting Siena at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13.

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