BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Facing a 17-point gap with under four minutes to play, American University men's basketball stormed back to make it a two-possession game in the closing minute before dropping a 90-82 contest at Lehigh on Wednesday night. The Eagles placed five in double figures and nearly completed the rally despite a 33-point performance from Lehigh's Nasir Whitlock. 

Notable 

• Senior Geoff Sprouse scored a season-high 21 points including 5-of-8 from long range, and posted a career-high four steals to lead all players.
• The Eagles got 16 points from freshman Madden Collins, 13 from sophomore Julen Iturbe, 11 from junior Matt Mayock, and 10 from junior Greg Jones.
• Jones, Mayock, and Collins all grabbed four boards apiece to lead American.
• Lehigh's Whitlock hit 12-of-16 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from long range.
• AU hit 10-for-30 three-pointers (33.3 percent), but the Mountain Hawks went 12-for-21 (57.1 percent).

First Half 

• The game started well for the Eagles as Iturbe hit a pair of three-pointers, and Sprouse capped an 8-1 run for a 10-6 lead.
• From there, Lehigh took control as the Mountain Hawks made 10 of their first 11 shots from the field.
• With a 14-0 run over a four-minute stretch, Lehigh took a 20-10 lead at 12:53.
• The Eagles twice got back to within single digits, the second time on a Mayock layup at 6:18 that put AU within eight at 32-24.
• Whitlock then took charge, scoring 10 of the game's next 14 points to put Lehigh ahead by 19 points, 45-26.
• In the final three minutes, American made up some ground thanks to a pair of layups for freshman Chris Eagan, a driving layup for Jones, and two free throws for Collins. In all, it was an 8-2 closing run that whittled the deficit to 13 at halftime, 47-34.
• Lehigh finished the half shooting 62 percent to AU's 43 percent, with Whitlock making 8-for-9 overall and 5-of-5 from long range.

Second Half 

• The Mountain Hawks pushed their lead to 18 points early in the second half, and kept their advantage in double digits until the final two minutes of the game.
• American had spurts that narrowed the margin to 11 points twice around the 12-minute mark, but Lehigh pushed its lead back to 18 points, 77-59, with under four minutes remaining in the game.
• Mayock hit a triple at 3:40 that began a late comeback attempt in earnest, as AU outscored Lehigh 22-9 over the following three minutes.
• The Eagles committed just five second-half turnovers while forcing 12, a huge difference from Lehigh's three first-half miscues.
• Sprouse drained his fifth three-pointer with 53 seconds left to make it a five-point game, 86-81.
• Jones hit one of two free throws to match that deficit with 26 seconds left at 87-82, but the Mountain Hawks went 3-for-4 at the line to close out the game.

Next Up

• The Eagles will return home to play for a season sweep against Army, hosting the Black Knights at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Keep Up With Us

• For the latest on American University Men's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Instagram (@au_mbasketball), X (@AU_MBasketball), and Facebook (/AU.MBasketball).