WASHINGTON – The American University men's basketball team cruised to an 84-65 win over Holy Cross in Bender Arena Wednesday night. Junior Elijah Stephens led the Eagles with 19 points on a night that saw nine different Eagles score for the team.
 
The Eagles will be back in action at Bender Arena on Saturday for All-Alumni Day against Colgate, where the 2014 Patriot League championship team will be honored in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of their conference title.
 
Notable Numbers

• Stephens and freshman Matt Mayock led the Eagles in scoring, with Mayock adding another 16 points on 6-9 shooting in addition to Stephens' 19.
• 13 of Mayock's 16 points came in the second half.
• Stephens also led the team in assists and steals, with six and five respectively. Mayock added four steals of his own as well.
• Senior Matt Rogers also recorded 14 points on 6-9 shooting while also leading the team in rebounds with eight.
• The team spread the ball around, with nine different Eagles recording a field goal on the night. The team's 84 points on 51.8% shooting outpace its average on the season of 72.9 points-per-game on 46.1% shooting, both of which are the best in the Patriot League this season.
• Holy Cross was led by guard Joe Octave who put up a game-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Eagles.

First Half

• American came out hot, jumping out to a 7-2 lead at the first media timeout with Rogers grabbing three defensive rebounds and hitting a shot from distance to provide the early spark.
• The Eagles continued hurriedly putting distance between themselves and the Crusaders, building their lead out to 23-7 nine minutes into the ballgame, thanks to a strong 7-11 from the field to start the game, including 4-7 from deep. 
• American led by as many as 17; however, AU cooled off after its hot start allowing Holy Cross to climb back into the game with a 14-2 run over 5:36 of gameplay, trimming American's lead to five, 30-25, with 3:25 left in the half.
• Holy Cross cut American's lead to as little as three, but the Eagles were able to stabilize and prevent the game from getting any closer before halftime.
• With five seconds left on the clock, head coach Duane Simpkins called a timeout to draw up a play to end the half. Stephens found Rogers open behind the arc just in time to hit a last second buzzer-beater, giving AU a 39-32 lead into halftime, pushing their advantage back out to seven.  

Second Half

• The Eagles opened the second half in a shooting slump, hitting just one of their first six to begin the half. Strong defense, including three steals, maintained its advantage, though it dwindled to as few as four with American leading 44-40 four minutes into the half.
• Mayock responded for American, scoring four consecutive baskets and eight points for the Eagles to put the team back up by 11 with 13:00 minutes remaining in the game. 
• Over the next five minutes, the teams went back-and-forth trading baskets. Rogers made a layup to put the Eagles up 66-52 at the media timeout with 7:25 left on the clock.
• The Eagles' ensuing run put the game away for good, with Rogers' layup helping to build momentum and jumpstart the Eagles to a 12-2 run. Mayock hit his second three of the game to give the Eagles a 21-point lead at the six-minute mark, their largest of the game.
• The Eagles cruised over the final minutes of the game, prevailing by a final score of 84-65.

Up Next

• The Eagles will host the Patriot League defending champion Colgate Raiders in Bender Arena for All-Alumni Day this Saturday, January 27th at 4 p.m.

 
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