BALTIMORE - Sustained offense proved elusive as American University men's basketball dropped a 77–68 decision at Loyola Maryland on Wednesday night, trailing for most of the contest despite several late pushes. The Eagles cut an 18-point deficit to five with a 15–2 run down the stretch, but Loyola answered at the free-throw line, where Braeden Speed scored 11 of his 30 points to hold American at bay.
Notable
- Freshman Madden Collins led the Eagles with 22 points, marking his fifth game this season with 20 or more points and his second in a row. Collins hit 8-of-10 shots from the field including one three-pointer.
- Senior Geoff Sprouse drained 4-of-6 triples on his way to 12 points, hitting three of those in AU's second-half comeback attempts.
- Also finishing in double digits was junior Greg Jones with 10 points, coming just one rebound shy of a double-double in tying for game-high honors with nine.
- Loyola Maryland scored 24 points at the free-throw line, going 24-of-29, while AU was 12-of-16.
- The Eagles were out-rebounded 39-28, and the Greyhounds finished with a 13-0 advantage in second-chance points.
First Half
- The Eagles never fell into an offensive rhythm in the first half, trailing for nearly 14 minutes and by as many as 16 near the end of the period.
- AU was up 11-8 before a 5-0 run by the Greyhounds put them ahead the rest of the half.
- Loyola made six of its 10 attempts from long range in the half while the Eagles were just 2-for-12.
- With a 9-2 run in the final minutes, the Greyhounds took their largest lead of 16 points, 42-26.
- Collins drove down the court for a final layup at the buzzer, sending AU into the break down by 14 at 42-28.
- Junior Matt Mayock led AU with nine points at the half, while Collins finished with seven.
Second Half
- Trailing 45-31 just over two minutes in, the Eagles came alive for a trio of triples in a row, getting the second two of those from Sprouse.
- The 9-0 run put AU within five points, 45-40 at 16:24, but the Eagles could come no closer.
- Loyola used a 6-0 run to put the margin back at double digits, and AU once more cut it to six before the Greyhounds pushed it back out again.
- AU's largest deficit was 18 points near the four-minute mark before the Eagles mounted an impressive closing stretch.
- Freshman Dean Hogans sank a pair of three-pointers in a 15-2 run that saw Collins also score six points and Sprouse hit his third triple.
- The run ended with a driving layup from Collins at a minute and a half remaining, putting AU within five at 70-65.
- Loyola missed two of five free-throw attempts to keep AU's hopes alive, and the hopes were stoked further by a fourth trey from Sprouse at 33 seconds that matched AU's five-point deficit at 73-68.
- Speed and Carter Berg-McLean combined for 4-of-4 at the line for the Greyhounds in the final seconds, while AU's last shots missed the mark.
Next Up
- The Eagles are back home in Bender Arena for two straight games, starting with a 2 p.m. contest against Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 31 for Coaches vs. Cancer and Hall of Fame Day.
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