PHILADELPHIA – Scoring runs for La Salle over the final minutes put the opening game of the season out of reach for American University men's basketball. The Eagles lost 65-52, and will look for their first win when they host Harvard on Sunday, Nov. 10.
 
Notable Numbers

• Senior guard Colin Smalls was the lone AU player to reach double figures in scoring with 10, but it was a balanced effort with five Eagles scoring between seven and 10 points.
• American got a trio of three-point buckets from junior Geoff Sprouse, who finished with nine points.
• In his collegiate debut, freshman Eric Michaels scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, and pulled down five boards.
• Grad student Matt Rogers also scored eight points, and sophomore Greg Jones added seven points.
• The Eagles got a team-high seven rebounds from grad student Lincoln Ball, and three assists each from Jones and Smalls.
• Officiating calls were tough on American, as the Eagles went to the line for just eight chances while the Explorers had 18. Rogers fouled out of the game with six minutes remaining.

First Half

• The Explorers hit their first two attempts from the field and had a 12-5 lead after five minutes.
• Smalls scored six points in an 11-4 run that had the game tied 16-16 after the first career bucket for Michaels at the six-minute mark.
• The go-ahead bucket didn't come for American, and La Salle caught fire with an 8-0 run for a 24-16 lead at 4:23.
• Jones hit a three-pointer to end the drought for AU, but the Eagles' only bucket in the final 3:53 was a trey for sophomore Matt Mayock.
• La Salle's Jahlil White made a buzzer-beater from long range to send his team into the break leading by 11 points, 33-22.

Second Half

• American fairly quickly erased nearly all of its halftime deficit in the opening five minutes of the second half.
• With a 10-2 run, capped by a three-pointer for freshman Wyatt Nausadis followed by a Mayock layup, American made it a two-point game at 37-35 with 15:10 to go.
• The Explorers answered with a 6-0 run, but AU chipped away once again and cut the deficit to 44-41 on a Michaels layup just under the nine-minute mark.
• It was as close as AU could get, as a 10-0 run for La Salle gave the Explorers a double-digit lead.
• AU once more cut the margin to single digits on the final three-pointer from Sprouse at 4:45, but La Salle extended its lead the rest of the way.

Up Next

• The Eagles will play their home opener against Harvard at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Bender Arena.

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).