WASHINGTON - Late heartbreak struck again as the Eagles fell 60–59 to Bucknell on a 30-foot buzzer-beater Wednesday night, their second straight loss decided at the horn. American University men's basketball led 59–56 after a late three from
Geoff Sprouse, but missed opportunities at the free-throw line in the final seconds opened the door for Bucknell.
Notable
- Sprouse led the Eagles with 12 points, hitting four triples that all came in the second half.
- Freshman Kade Sebastian scored 11 points and hit three long-range shots.
- Junior Greg Jones finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds along with a team-best four assists.
- The Eagles went an uncharacteristic 3-for-6 at the line in the second half, missing the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities twice in the final 24 seconds.
- Bucknell's Achile Spadone hit the game-winning three, his only make of five long-range attempts in the contest.
- Spadone led the Bison with 11 rebounds, while freshman Amon Dörries led all players with 21 points.
First Half
- Nothing was falling early for either team, and a 2-0 AU lead built on free throws for Jones stood for over three minutes.
- It was nearly four minutes in before a field goal was scored, giving the Bison a 4-2 lead, and the first field goal for the Eagles was a triple for Wyatt Nausadis that gave AU a 5-4 lead at 14:50.
- After hitting just 1-for-9 to start, AU had a stretch that saw the Eagles go 4-for-5 and take a 15-10 lead on a Matt Mayock three-pointer with 11 minutes to go.
- Bucknell used an 8-0 run for its largest lead of three points at 18-15, but Madden Collins tied the game for a third time with a trey at 8:24.
- Down 20-18 a short time later, the Eagles used a 9-2 run to take the lead.
- Mayock capped the run at 1:37 for American's largest lead of seven points, 29-22, and the Eagles took a 29-24 advantage into halftime.
Second Half
- An 8-2 run capped by a Sprouse triple gave the Eagles their largest lead of eight, 37-29.
- Bucknell answered with a 7-0 run to make it a one-point game at the 14-minute mark before Sprouse hit his second three-pointer to widen the gap back to four at 40-36.
- From there, it was a tight game the rest of the way with four ties and five lead changes.
- Sophomore Julen Iturbe gave AU a lift with a five-point burst near the six-minute mark, following a three-pointer with a layup for a 48-46 lead.
- Bucknell tied the game for a 10th and final time at 56-56 with 1:53 to go before Sprouse drained the Eagles' 12th triple at 1:34.
- Both teams missed a subsequent attempt from long range, leading to Bucknell sending American to the foul line.
- Iturbe missed his front end with 24 seconds left. Dörries was sent to the line after a foul was called on Sprouse with six seconds left.
- Dörries made his first and missed the second intentionally, but it was Sebastian who corralled the rebound.
- After another front-end miss for AU, Spadone took the ball down and heaved it from well outside the arc for the game-winner.
Next Up
- The Eagles have back-to-back road games coming up, starting with a trip to first-place Navy on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 4 p.m.
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