HIGH POINT, N.C. – Strong shooting by the Eagles kept them in it the whole way, but High Point never backed down and handed American University men's basketball an 80-73 loss on Monday night at the Qubein Center. Both teams hit over 55 percent from the field, but the Panthers got 21 opportunities at the free-throw line while AU had just 12.
 
Notable Numbers

• Senior Elijah Stephens made 9-of-11 field goals to lead the Eagles with 19 points, also dishing a game-high four assists.
• The Eagles got 17 points and six rebounds from grad student Matt Rogers.
• Junior Geoff Sprouse hit four of his seven attempts from long range in finishing with 16 points.
• Grad student Lincoln Ball led all players in the game with seven rebounds, and also posted three assists.
• High Point got 22 points from Abdoulaye Thiam on 9-of-10 shooting, and 21 points from D'Maurian Williams who hit a trio of three-pointers.

First Half

• American hit six of its first eight shots from the field for a six-point, 15-9 lead at 14:30, the last of those being the second three-pointer for Sprouse.
• It would prove to be the Eagles' largest lead of the game, as a 7-0 run for High Point gave the Panthers their first lead near the 12-minute mark.
• AU went back up by three on the third make for Stephens, but ties at 21-all and 23-all followed.
• High Point hit a couple more three-pointers down the stretch while the Eagles went cold from long range.
• The Eagles were within five near the five-minute mark, but High Point closed on a 9-2 run for a 10-point lead at halftime, 39-29.
• High Point took advantage of six miscues by American, finishing the half with an 11-2 lead in points off turnovers including seven fast-break points.

Second Half

• Both teams came out hot in the second half and never let up by much.
• The Panthers hit four of their first five to maintain a 10-point lead, but the Eagles hit 6-for-7 to cut the margin to five.
• American came within four on a trey from Matt Mayock at 14:13, and matched that deficit at 13:17 on an Eric Michaels layup.
• Despite ultimately hitting 10 of their first 12 shots, the Eagles continued to trail.
• High Point's sixth three-pointer of the contest had the Panthers up by eight, 60-52 near the 10-minute mark.
• The Panthers took advantage of foul calls on AU to hit 8-of-11 at the line in the first 13 minutes of the second half.
• With six minutes left, High Point regained its largest lead of 10, 71-61, and the Panthers briefly led by 11 at the five-minute mark.
• The Eagles capped a 6-1 run with a Stephens layup to make it a six-point game at 1:21.
• Rogers drained his first triple of the night with 30 seconds left to bring the Eagles within five, but High Point made its last two free throws and AU managed just one more shot that was off the mark.

Up Next

• The Eagles will play three games in the Puerto Rico Clasico, taking on Kansas City, UAlbany, and Puerto Rico at Bayamon from Nov. 22-24.

Keep Up With Us

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