WASHINGTON - Despite cutting a nine-point deficit to three in the final seconds, American University men's basketball could not complete the comeback in a 78-73 loss to Lehigh on Wednesday night. The setback ends a three-game winning streak and shifts the focus to Saturday's regular-season finale at home against BU with the No. 4 seed and the right to host a Patriot League quarterfinal on the line.

Notable 

• American will be either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed entering the Patriot League Tournament, with Saturday's game against Boston University determining quarterfinal hosting rights. The two programs are set to meet again five days later, either in Bender Arena or in Boston.
• Junior Greg Jones tied his career high with 23 points, scoring 19 of those in the second half. He also led AU on the glass with eight rebounds.
• Three others reached double-digits in scoring for AU as junior Matt Mayock totaled 15 points while sophomore Julen Iturbe and freshman Madden Collins scored 10 points each.
• Iturbe pulled down seven boards, and freshman Chris Eagan posted a career-high six boards.
• Lehigh's Hank Alvey scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, leading four Mountain Hawks in double figures.

First Half 

• Mayock scored AU's first seven points of the game and helped the Eagles take a lead that they held for the opening 14 minutes.
• American led 15-10 with 12 minutes remaining in the half, shooting 50 percent from the field compared to the Hawks' 33 percent shooting.
• Lehigh found its stride, making 11-of-14 after a 2-for-10 start and taking the lead with five minutes to go in the half.
• Alvey scored 13 first-half points for the Mountain Hawks on 5-of-6 shooting, helping them go up by six before leading 33-30 at the break.

Second Half 

• The Mountain Hawks used a 10-1 run early in the second half to go up by 11 less than three minutes in.
• Heavy fouling from both teams at the start of the half had American with seven fouls and Lehigh at five within the first five minutes.
• Lehigh led by double digits or close to it for a 10-minute stretch, but AU stayed within reach and was able to mount a late surge.
• Jones led AU as the Eagles clawed back into the game, scoring 19 points in the second half alone and cutting the deficit down to four with three minutes to go before fouling out.
• Lehigh widened the lead back to nine with a 7-0 run starting at the three-minute mark, going up 70-61 with just under two minutes to play.
• Late buckets for Iturbe, Mayock, and Collins all put AU within five, and a triple for sophomore Wyatt Nausadis made it a three-point game with nine seconds remaining.
• Lehigh went 8-for-10 at the line in the final minute to hold off the Eagles, with Nasir Whitlock making the final two to seal the win.

Next Up

• The Eagles will play their last regular season game in Bender Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28 against BU at noon. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.

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).