WASHINGTON - From start to finish, American University men's basketball set the tone in a 65–51 win over Navy at Bender Arena on Monday night. The Eagles never trailed, led by as many as 18, and rebounded from two conference losses to improve to 3–2 in Patriot League play.
Greg Jones scored a career-high 23 points as AU snapped the Mids' eight-game win streak and handed them their first PL defeat.
Notable
- Senior Geoff Sprouse netted a three-pointer just one minute into the contest that put him alone in fifth place all-time in career triples at AU. He now has 179 to hold that spot on the list.
- Jones hit 8-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line on his way to 23 points, also grabbing seven rebounds.
- Sophomore Wyatt Nausadis added 17 points, tying his career-high with four three-pointers to fire up the crowd of 1,314.
- Leading AU in a strong night on the glass was sophomore Julen Iturbe with nine rebounds. Iturbe also chipped in seven points and a game-high four assists.
- The Eagles out-rebounded Navy 42-35, with a 15-9 edge on the offensive glass.
- AU won the turnover battle with just seven compared to Navy's 14, and the Eagles outscored the Midshipmen 12-0 off turnovers.
- The Mids came in averaging 73.5 points per game, with the Eagles holding them to 22.5 below that average.
First Half
- The first points of the game came one minute in with a corner three from Sprouse, and AU went on to lead for the remainder of the contest.
- The momentum at the beginning belonged to the Eagles, as they went on a 7-0 run in the first 3:35.
- American showed physicality early, scoring 10 of their first 14 points in the paint.
- This was a common trend all half, with AU outscoring Navy 18-4 in the paint.
- The Eagles went on another 7-0 run to make the score 17-6, culminating in a possession where freshman Madden Collins battled for two offensive rebounds before Nausadis drained a three to force a Navy timeout.
- AU scored two key three-point plays to end the half. First, a corner three from Jones, and second, after a block by junior Matt Mayock, Nausadis flew down the court and netted an and-one layup, putting the Eagles up 33-17 at the break.
Second Half
- The Eagles slightly extended their lead to 18 early on in the half, and spent the rest of the half holding on.
- Nausadis came alive late with a jumper and a three-pointer on the next possession to put the game out of reach with a 61-47 lead and 3:37 remaining.
- With just 21 seconds left, Jones stepped up to the free-throw line and netted his 22nd and 23rd points of the game to best his previous career high of 21.
Next Up
- The Eagles will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 18 in a 1 p.m. game at Army West Point.
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