WEST POINT, N.Y. - From the opening tip to the final horn, control never wavered as American University men's basketball rolled past Army, 78–67, for its second straight wire-to-wire win in a perfect 2–0 week. Sophomore
Julen Iturbe delivered a career day at West Point, pouring in a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting to shatter his previous best of 16.
Notable
- Iturbe hit 3-of-4 from long range, leading a three-point shooting effort that saw the Eagles go 10-for-25 overall.
- Junior Greg Jones hit a pair of triples on his way to a 16-point effort, also making 6-of-8 free throws.
- Freshman Madden Collins scored 14 points and led AU in rebounding for the third time in four games, pulling down a game-high eight boards.
- Two triples apiece came from senior Geoff Sprouse and sophomore Wyatt Nausadis.
- Junior Matt Mayock added a team-high five assists to six rebounds, and freshman Kade Sebastian led all players with three steals.
- AU held Army's leading scorer this season, Ryan Curry (15.5 ppg), to a season-low six points. Jacen Holloway led the Black Knights with 21.
First Half
- The Eagles drained five three-pointers in the opening four minutes, jumping out to a 15-4 lead as Iturbe and Jones each hit their first two attempts from long range.
- Sprouse added another near the 12-minute mark for an 18-9 lead, but a 7-0 Army run followed to make it a two-point game.
- Collins hit the first two-point bucket of the half for AU at the eight-minute mark to break an 18-18 tie, and the Eagles never trailed.
- Nausadis scored five points in a 7-0 run that pushed AU's lead back to 11, 31-20 at 2:13.
- AU took a seven-point, 33-26 lead into halftime, led by 10 points from Iturbe.
- The Eagles finished with seven triples in the half compared to two for Army.
Second Half
- Iturbe scored five points in an 8-0 run for American to start the second half, capped by a Sprouse triple for a 41-26 lead at 17:34.
- That was AU's largest lead of the contest, but Army never came within fewer than four.
- After the Black Knights chipped away and made it a four-point game at 11 minutes, the Eagles took momentum back in the latter half of the second period.
- Leading by just five at 55-50, the Eagles used a 14-4 run to go back up by 15 at the seven-minute mark, 69-54.
- Iturbe scored six points in that run, and capped it with 2-of-2 at the line.
- Army battled back again with a 7-0 run to come within five points at 2:46, but the Eagles went 7-for-8 at the free throw line to close out the win.
Next Up
- The Eagles will be back home in Bender Arena for their next game, a 7 p.m. contest against Colgate on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
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