ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Long scoreless droughts prevented any hopes of a comeback for American University men's basketball in a disappointing performance to start Patriot League play. The Eagles (6-8, 0-1) lost 81-58 at Navy (4-10, 1-0) in the conference opener on Thursday night in Alumni Hall.
 
Notable Numbers

• Colin Smalls led AU with 18 points and hit 4-of-6 from long range. He had 12 at halftime, hitting four of his five attempts from beyond the arc in the opening period.
• The only other player to reach double digits in scoring for AU was Matt Rogers with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Greg Jones chipped in nine points for American, and reached free throw number 24 in a row before missing his final attempt of the game (3-of-4 tonight).
• The Eagles were out-rebounded 38-28, and the Mids had a 15-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Aidan Kehoe led Navy with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Donovan Draper also posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards.

First Half

• Jones hit his 22nd and 23rd straight free throws for the opening points of the game, but the Eagles struggled through the next 10 minutes.
• The Mids hit 11 of their first 17 attempts from the field on their way to a 14-point, 26-12 lead at 9:28.
• Smalls was the lone bright spot for AU early on as he hit 2-of-3 from long range in the first eight minutes, but the rest of the team went 2-for-12 in that same stretch.
• With 6:48 to go, Wyatt Nausadis hit the third trey of the game for the Eagles, and Rogers followed with another to cut the 14-point deficit to eight, 28-20 at 6:15.
• After a drought for both teams, the Mids found their stride again and hit four straight shots for their largest lead of 15 points, 38-23 at 1:43.
• Smalls got his fourth trey to fall to stop Navy's run, and the first trey for Geoff Sprouse fell with 40 seconds left.
• American was whistled for nine first-half fouls compared to three for Navy, and the Mids hit 8-for-10 at the stripe including four in the final minute to take a 13-point lead into the break, 42-29.

Second Half

• Elijah Stephens followed a jumper with a trey for his first five points of the game to start the second half, but the Eagles were able to gain no ground in the first five minutes.
• Navy hit 5-of-6 in that stretch and led 54-40 at 15:15, just one point off its largest lead of the game. 
• Rogers, who drained his second three-pointer at 14:35, later scored on both ends of a 6-0 run that got AU within six points at 12:36, 57-51.
• That was the end of AU's comeback chances, as a five-minute scoreless drought followed for the Eagles while Navy put the game out of reach.
• Smalls hit a jumper and a single free throw in a nearly nine-minute stretch that saw no other points scored for AU.
• Navy reached a 20-point advantage just under the five-minute mark, and won by 23.

Up Next

• The Eagles will host Holy Cross in their Patriot League home opener at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5.

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).