WASHINGTON – In search of its first win after a tough season opener at #22/20 Villanova, the American University men's basketball team will head to former conference rival William & Mary for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Nov. 9. The Eagles will return home for two straight games next week against Siena and NJIT.
 
Quick Info

• Date/Time: Thursday, November 9; 7 pm
• Site: Williamsburg, Va. (Kaplan Arena)
• Series History: American leads, 36-15
• TV: Flo Hoops
• Talent: Jay Colley and Bobby Dwyer

Inside the Series

• American leads the all-time series 36-15 against its former conference rival in the CAA.
• The Eagles have won back-to-back contests, taking a 71-64 decision in Bender Arena last year and getting a 74-62 win the last time they visited Williamsburg in the 2021-22 season.
• William & Mary's most recent victory was in 2019 in DC by a score of 79-70.
• Prior to that, it had been 18 years since the teams had faced each other in AU's final year as a CAA member in 2000-01.

What to Know About American

• The Eagles hung with #22/20 Villanova early in their season opener, but the game got away in the second half. Senior Colin Smalls led all players with 16 points, while sophomore Jermaine Ballisager Webb tied his career high with 13 points. Both Smalls and Ballisager Webb came off the bench. Senior Lorenzo Donadio tied his career high in rebounds with eight, leading all players in the game.
• The head coaching career of Duane Simpkins has begun, though the first-year coach is looking for his first win. Simpkins, hired at American in April, is familiar to fans in the DMV after playing at prep power DeMatha Catholic and for Gary Williams at Maryland, where he scored more than 1,100 points in the mid-1990s. 
• Despite the change at the top, the Eagles returned four of their top five scorers and have a strong core of leaders with five seniors on the roster. It's a team that defeated both Georgetown and GW last year and made a late-season run to the Patriot League semifinals.
• AU's leading scorer last season was forward Matt Rogers (14.1 ppg), who has returned for his fourth year and still has one remaining in 2024-25. Rogers was an All-PL Second Team pick as a junior, and a Preseason All-PL selection this season. 
• Junior guard Elijah Stephens has 97 career steals after just two years, and came close to cracking the all-time single-season steals list with 60 steals as a sophomore last year.
• American had the advantage extra practices for a foreign trip this past summer, as the Eagles embarked on a nine-day trip to Italy in August. AU flew to Naples and also spent time in Rome and Florence, playing three games against international competition.

What to Know About William & Mary

• William & Mary comes into Thursday's game sporting a 1-0 record after an 84-29 win over Regent University, a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) program, on Monday. 
• Junior Gabe Dorsey led the way with 18 points in that victory. Dorsey's 10.9 points per game last season lead all returners for the Tribe, and he earned a spot on the Preseason All-Coastal Athletic Association Team this fall. He was third overall in scoring for last year's squad. This year, Dorsey is joined by his brother Caleb, a transfer from Penn State. 
• Dane Fischer is entering his fifth season as the head coach at William & Mary, where he will be looking to improve upon last season's 13-20 overall finish.

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).