WASHINGTON – Dominant at home once again, American University men's basketball rolled to a 72-51 win over Loyola Maryland (10-15, 5-9), extending its first-place lead in the Patriot League to two games. The Eagles (17-10, 11-3) secured their 10th home victory of the season and their 10th win in the last 11 games. Graduate student
Matt Rogers led the way with 22 points and nine rebounds, while junior
Geoff Sprouse, recently back from injury, hit four three-pointers to tie for 10th all-time in program history with 126.
Notable Numbers
- It was nearly the third double-double of the season for Rogers, who grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while hitting 8-for-14 from the field. Rogers also hit 4-of-7 from long range—his fourth game this year with four triples.
- With 119 three-pointers made in his career, Rogers is just seven behind Sprouse, who got to 126 tonight to tie for 10th all-time.
- Sprouse scored 12 points for the Eagles, draining 4-of-5 attempts from long range, and also picking up two steals.
- Freshman Wyatt Nausadis reached double digits for the first time in his career with 10 points, hitting 4-of-4 from the field including a three-pointer.
- Elijah Stephens led all players with six assists, Colin Smalls scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, and Lincoln Ball added two steals to an eight-rebound performance.
- American now stands at 10-1 in Bender Arena this season, and has not lost a Patriot League contest at home.
- AU shot 51.9 percent from the field compared to the Greyhounds' 35.5 percent. The Eagles held Loyola Maryland it just 15 percent shooting from long range (3-of-20) while going 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) on their end to tie their season-high of three-pointers made.
First Half
- American struck first with a three-pointer from Greg Jones, but later trailed the Greyhounds, 12-5 with 13:16 left in the half after not scoring for almost four minutes.
- Down 18-12, Eric Michaels made a layup at 9:14 that started a 12-0 run for AU.
- Rogers scored his first triple in that run, and Smalls ended it with another one for a 24-18 lead at 6:11.
- The Eagles turned it into a 20-4 run that saw them hit nine of 10 field-goal attempts, and they twice led by 10 before the Greyhounds made it a seven-point game by halftime.
- AU took a 34-27 lead into the break, and Rogers led all scorers with 10 points.
Second Half
- Smalls opened the second half with a layup 40 seconds in, and another Rogers three-pointer put the Eagles ahead by 12.
- After a quick 6-0 Loyola run, Sprouse scored back-to-back three-pointers for a 45-35 lead with 15-minutes remaining.
- The Greyhounds once more made it a single-digit deficit on a Jordan Stiemke layup at 12:28 (47-39), but after the third trey of the game for Rogers at 11:21, the Eagles led by at least 10 the rest of the way.
- Ball banked in a fadeaway three-pointer to beat the shot clock at 9:43, getting a huge roar from the crowd of over 1,400 and putting the Eagles up 55-39.
- The only points scored in the next two minutes were a pair of free throws from Ball, during a stretch of over five minutes that saw AU hold Loyola scoreless from the field.
- Nausadis and fellow freshman Julen Iturbe sank AU's 12th and 13th three-pointers of the game for a 71-49 lead with 2:12 remaining, and the Greyhounds put in one more layup in the remaining time for the final tally.
Up Next
- The Eagles are on the road for their next game, heading to Army West Point on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. They'll return home on Saturday, Feb. 22 against Boston University at 4 p.m. For tickets, click HERE.
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