PHILADELPHIA – Despite a pair of 19-point efforts from
Greg Jones and
Matt Rogers, the American University men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered in an 84-57 defeat at Saint Joseph's. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Eagles, who drop to 6-5 while the Hawks improve to 7-4.
Notable Numbers
- For Jones, his 19 points scored were a career high. He hit 4-of-4 from the field in the first half and 2-of-3 in the second, also making all five of his attempts at the free-throw line and coming up with a career-high five steals.
- Rogers scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, hitting 8-of-13 from the field overall.
- Thanks to a 10-point spurt in the final minutes, freshman Julen Iturbe finished with 11 points in the game to tie his season high.
- Saint Joseph's had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by Rasheer Fleming with a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds.
First Half
- Thanks to 70 percent shooting over the first 13 minutes of the half, the Hawks jumped out to a sizeable early lead.
- Saint Joseph's took its first double-digit lead at the 14-minute mark and increased the margin from there.
- The Hawks led by as many as 19 points, 30-11 at 9:45.
- Jones helped keep it from getting worse, scoring a quick five points and making every shot he took from both the field and the stripe in the first half.
- With a three-point play at the 3-minute mark, Jones had the Eagles' deficit down to 12, but they scored only one more point the rest of the way.
- Jones had 12 points and five steals at the break, but the Hawks led 44-26.
- Fleming tallied a double-double in just the first half with 16 points and 11 boards.
Second Half
- St. Joe's took its first 20-point lead on its first possession of the second half.
- Rogers drained back-to-back shots from long range to make a dent, but that 14-point margin was as close as AU would get the rest of the way.
- Both Jones and Rogers made shots down the stretch, but the Eagles got few contributions from others.
- In front of his hometown fans, Matt Mayock hit a three-pointer at 13:37, but SJU still led by 21.
- With a jumper at 5:38, Fleming put the Hawks up by 30 for the first time at 78-47.
- Iturbe gave AU some life in the final two minutes, going on a solo 10-0 run to cut a 37-point deficit to 27 points for the final tally.
Up Next
- The Eagles are on the road for one more before the holiday break, heading to Charlottesville to take on Virginia at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22.
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