WASHINGTON - With a potential No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Championships on the line, American University men's basketball heads to Colgate for a noon matchup Saturday, March 1 on CBS Sports Network. The Eagles (18-12, 12-5), currently tied at the top with Bucknell, need a win and either a Bucknell or Navy loss in order to clinch the top seed.
Patriot League Seeding Scenarios
- American can clinch the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed with a win vs. Colgate AND a Bucknell loss at Holy Cross.
- American can clinch a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed with a win vs. Colgate AND a Bucknell win at Holy Cross IF Navy loses vs. Loyola Maryland.
- American will clinch a share of the regular-season title and the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Championship with a win vs. Colgate AND a Bucknell win at Holy Cross IF Navy defeats Loyola Maryland.
- American will clinch a share of the regular-season title and the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Championship with a loss IF Bucknell loses.
Quick Info
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 1; Noon
- Site: Hamilton, N.Y. (Cotterell Court)
- Series History: AU leads, 34-18
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Talent: Jason Knapp, Mo Cassara
Inside the Series
- This will be the 53rd meeting between American and Colgate, with the Eagles leading 34-18.
- Colgate has won 11 of the last 14 meetings, but the Eagles have won two straight including a huge win on the road near the end of last season on Feb. 25, snapping the Raiders' 12-game win streak.
- Elijah Stephens (17 points) hit a jumper with two seconds left in that 66-64 victory, while Matt Rogers led AU with 23 points.
- Earlier this season, in a battle with 11 ties and 19 lead changes, the Eagles got a clutch, go-ahead three-pointer from Greg Jones at 1:22 and beat Colgate at home, 81-77 on Jan. 25.
- American's other win in the last 14 meetings was also a recent one, as the Eagles pulled out a 61-60 home win on Feb. 4, 2023.
What to Know About American
- With losses in two of their last three games, the final stretch of the season has not gone according to plan for the Eagles. However, the Patriot League regular season title and a No. 1 seed are still possibilities for AU, with help from the results of other games on Saturday. American can finish no worse than No. 2 in the standings, and has earned the right to host at least a quarterfinal as well as a semifinal if the Eagles advance.
- The Eagles have already achieved the highest win total since 2013-14 with 18 victories, and their 12 PL wins match the 2019-20 team for the most since the 2013-14 squad tied the program record at 13-5. The Eagles have won 11 of their last 14 games, and are tied with Bucknell atop the PL standings.
- Defense was on display in AU's most recent win, a 48-44 defeat of Boston University that saw the Eagles win despite shooting under 10 percent from long range (2-for-21). They hit 10-of-12 free throws, forced 19 turnovers on BU, got five steals from Elijah Stephens, and were able to hold off the Terriers in the final minutes with a three-pointer and solid foul shooting. It was the first time AU had scored fewer than 50 points in a win since December, 2014 against Mount St. Mary's (46-45).
- Ten of AU's games this season have been decided by five or fewer points, and the Eagles have won eight of those, including a Lincoln Ball buzzer-beater over Lehigh on Jan. 22, an OT win at Lehigh on Feb. 8, and a win on a Matt Rogers jumper with 3.2 seconds left against Lafayette on Feb. 10. All three graduate students (Ball, Rogers, and Colin Smalls) have now hit a crucial late shot to help win a game.
- Rogers, who ranks sixth all-time at AU with 1,784 points, averages 17.1 points per game to rank fourth in the PL, while his 5.6 rebounds per game rank ninth. Rogers is hitting shots at a 55.2 percent clip, good enough for fourth in the PL. His three-point field-goal percentage of .394 ranks 10th in the PL. Rogers is a two-time PL Player of the Week this season, and was named the 2024-25 PL Preseason Player of the Year.
- Senior guard Elijah Stephens is just the fourth player in program history to eclipse both 1,000 points (now with 1,143) and 400 assists (now with 446). He's also cracked the career list in steals with 176 to rank ninth all-time at AU. Stephens has reached double digits in scoring in five of the last seven games, including a career-high 23-point effort in an overtime win at Lehigh on Feb. 8.
- AU leads the Patriot League and ranks 48th in NCAA DI in free-throw percentage at .760, a number that would break a 60-year-old program record, with the 1964-65 team currently holding that mark at .750. Elijah Stephens ranks second in the PL in free-throw percentage at .863, Greg Jones ranks fourth at .851, and Colin Smalls is sixth at .814.
What to Know About Colgate
- The defending Patriot League champion Colgate Red Raiders, who have won five of the last six league crowns, will not win the regular season but are currently tied for third at 10-7.
- After a four-game losing streak that started with its loss at American on Jan. 25, Colgate has since won four of its last six games and is coming off an 81-73 win vs. Holy Cross on Wednesday.
- Fifth year forward Jeff Woodward leads the Raiders with 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Woodward missed eight games in November and December, but has boosted his output to 16.7 points per game in PL games which ranks fourth behind Matt Rogers' 18.1 points per game in conference play.
- Senior guard Nicolas Louis-Jacques adds 11.7 points a contest, and sophomore guard Jalen Cox chips in 11.5. Cox adds 3.9 assists per game, tops on the team and third in the Patriot League.
- Matt Langel is in his 14th season and is the winningest coach in program history. He has led the team to five of its seven NCAA Tournament appearances, and is a five-time PL Coach of the Year.
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