ANNAPOLIS, Md. - In a game that remained tight well into the second half, American University men's basketball saw Navy pull away late for an 82-73 decision at Alumni Hall. The Eagles were within a possession midway through the second half before Navy capitalized on turnovers to create late separation.

Notable 

• The Eagles are the only team to defeat Navy so far in Patriot League play with their Jan. 12 win. The Mids have now won 15 of their last 16 games.
• Junior Greg Jones led American with 17 points and nine rebounds.
• Sophomore Julen Iturbe hit a trio of three-pointers on his way to a 15-point effort, also dishing four assists.
• The Eagles got 14 points and eight boards from freshman Madden Collins, who also tied Iturbe for team-high honors with four assists.
• Navy took 18 more free throws than AU as the Eagles were whistled for 27 fouls to the Mids' 12. Many of those were in the final minute as the Mids went 9-for-10 at the line to hold off a comeback attempt for American.

First Half 

• The Eagles had an early 10-7 lead when Collins hit their second triple near the 16-minute mark, but Navy used a 9-1 run to pull ahead.
• Collins ended the Mids' run with a three-point play, and Iturbe tied it up at 20-20 with 9:15 to go.
• Sophomore Wyatt Nausadis briefly gave the Eagles a lead back with a three-pointer at the eight-minute mark, but a 9-0 run for Navy put the Mids in the lead the rest of the half.
• Navy's largest lead was 31-23, but American quickly pulled back within four.
• Freshman Kade Sebastian drained the Eagles' sixth trey of the half with 33 seconds left to make it a two-point game, 37-35, before the Mids took a 39-35 lead into the break.
• Jones led AU with 11 points after one half of play, while Kehoe led Navy with 14 on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 at the line.

Second Half 

• Down by six early, the Eagles got back-to-back-to-back triples from junior Matt Mayock, Iturbe, and senior Geoff Sprouse in a 9-0 run that gave them a 46-43 lead at 15:50.
• AU matched that three-point lead twice more thanks to a strong effort on the offensive glass.
• The last lead for the Eagles came at 12:06 on another triple for Sprouse that put AU up 53-52, but a scoreless stretch of five and a half minutes followed.
• American's efforts on defense limited the damage, but Navy's 9-0 run put the Mids up 61-53 and back in the lead for good.
• Collins ended the drought with a three-point play at 6:32, and AU twice got within five points.
• Iturbe hit three-pointers near three minutes and with 1:40 left to keep AU within striking distance, but the Mids were solid at the line to thwart the comeback effort by American.

Next Up

• The Eagles are on the road again for their next game, a 7 p.m. contest at Lehigh on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

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).