BOSTON – Second-half shooting struggles were too much to overcome for American University men's basketball in a 60-54 loss at Boston University. The Eagles (7-9, 1-2) got a game-high 22 points from
Matt Rogers in a game that was tied at the half, but the Terriers (8-8, 2-1) picked up the pace to lead by as many as 11 points in the second.
Notable Numbers
- Rogers scored half of the Eagles' points in the second half, finishing with 22 overall on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 free throws.
- Elijah Stephens went 5-of-8 from the field for 12 points, and Greg Jones added 11 for his second-straight game in double digits thanks to 6-of-6 makes at the charity stripe.
- Jones added a team-high seven rebounds, getting three of those on the offensive glass.
- BU out-scored AU 28-18 in the paint.
- The Terriers got 20 points from Michael McNair, who hit 4-of-8 from long range.
First Half
- The teams were tied for the fourth time at 12-12 before a driving layup for Matt Rogers put AU on top for the game's sixth lead change.
- It proved to be the final lead change of the half, as the Eagles remained in the lead until the final second of the period.
- Jones hit a triple to cap a 7-0 run that put AU up 17-12 at 10:20, but BU soon closed the gap to three.
- After an old-fashioned three-point play for Rogers at 6:22, the Eagles led 25-17, but the Terriers once again came back to within four.
- AU's largest lead of the half was nine points, 30-21 at 2:24 on two free throws for Jones, but those were the final two points of the period for the Eagles.
- BU closed on a 9-0 run with three treys, including two from McNair and a halftime buzzer-beating three for Kyrone Alexander.
- The final three gave the game its fifth tie of 30-30 at the break.
- Rogers led AU with 10 points at halftime, while McNair had 11 for BU.
Second Half
- Rogers made an early three-pointer and a pair of free throws to keep AU in it early in the second half, and the game saw its sixth tie at 35-35.
- From there it was all BU, as the Terriers used an 8-0 run to pull ahead for good.
- The Eagles were scoreless for four and half minutes before Rogers scored on a hook shot, but he was the only Eagle to score in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
- BU's run was 13-2 for its largest lead of 11 points, 48-37 with 8:17 remaining.
- The lead was still double digits for BU at the four-minute mark, but a Rogers layup at 3:55 cut the deficit to nine and the Eagles kept it in single digits the rest of the way.
- AU was within six on a Stephens jumper at the three-minute mark, but a series of turnovers left the Eagles unable to capitalize on a series of BU misses in that same stretch.
- Another bucket by Stephens made it a five-point game, 50-55 with 33 seconds left, but it was as close as AU could get.
Up Next
- The Eagles are returning home this weekend to face Bucknell at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. They'll have a quick turnaround before a game at Loyola Maryland on Monday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
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