WASHINGTON – After holding home-court advantage all season long in the Patriot League, the American University men's basketball team suffered its only conference home loss in its final regular-season home game as Navy (12-18, 9-8) took the win, 68-60. The Eagles (18-12, 12-5) will finish as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the PL based on the outcome of their game at Colgate, and Bucknell's game at Holy Cross, both on Saturday.
Notable Numbers
- Navy got the season sweep of American and handed the Eagles their only home loss in Patriot League play, with AU finishing 8-1 at home in the conference.
- Jordan Pennick hit 6-of-8 three-pointers for the Mids on his way to a game-high 22 points. Not a single other Navy player made a three-pointer in the game.
- Matt Rogers led American with 17 points, while Greg Jones added 10.
- The Eagles got nine points from Colin Smalls, and a team-high seven rebounds from Lincoln Ball.
- Navy out-rebounded AU 40-28, getting 16 of those rebounds from Donovan Draper.
- The Eagles shot an uncharacteristically low 64.7 percent from the free-throw line (11-for-17), but the Mids were low as well at 66.7 percent (20-for-30).
First Half
- The Eagles jumped out to a six-point lead early, but a 7-0 Navy run put the Mids up 12-11 at 14:18.
- After a brief tie at 14-14, Geoff Sprouse drained a three-pointer for a three-point lead at 10:48.
- The defense did well for American over the following six minutes to keep Navy close, but the Eagles did not score again until a Wyatt Nausadis steal and a layup at 4:34.
- During that stretch, Navy led only by a point at 18-17 before the bucket for Nausadis.
- The Mids then took another lead on a triple with 4:19 to go, and led the rest of the way.
- Navy's largest lead was five points on three occasions, and Elijah Stephens scored the final bucket of the half to put AU within three at the break, 30-27.
Second Half
- Navy opened the second half with a bucket for a six-point lead, and matched that lead one more time in the first two minutes.
- After Jones hit his second triple of the game for AU at 14:08, neither team had more than a two-point advantage for the next seven minutes.
- Rogers was whistled for his fourth foul just after a crowd-pleasing dunk at 15:38, and was forced to sit until the final seven minutes.
- The fifth and final tie of the game was 56-56 on a Matt Mayock steal and a layup at 4:55.
- Rogers hit a pair of free throws to pull AU within one, 59-58 at the two-minute mark, but the Eagles could get no closer.
- Although Navy hit just half of its free throws in the final 45 seconds, going 4-for-8, the Eagles scored only once in the last two minutes.
Up Next
- The Eagles are on the road for their regular season finale, heading to Colgate on Saturday, March 1 at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. They'll return home on Thursday, March 6 to host a PL Quarterfinal at 7 p.m. For tickets, click HERE.
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