March 9, 2008
WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team proved the playoffs can be no different than the regular season, just on a bigger scale, on Sunday versus Army in Bender Arena. What the Eagles did so many times during the regular season - build up a big first-half lead, weather a second-half comeback, then hit free throws down the stretch to capture the win - worked again in the Patriot League Semifinals in a 72-60 win over the Black Knights.
The win gives AU a berth in the Patriot League Championship Game for the fourth time in this, the Eagles seventh season in the conference, and their first trip to the title game since 2004. American made the championship tilt in each of its first three seasons in the league. AU will face Colgate, 54-40 winners over Bucknell in the other semifinal, on Friday at 4:45 p.m. in Bender Arena. The victory also gives American its first 20-win season since the 1989-90 season, in which AU Hall-of-Fame Coach Ed Tapscott led the Eagles to a 20-9 mark.
The Eagles opened the game with an 18-4 run over the first 8:17. AU hit four three-pointers during that stretch, including two by junior guard Garrison Carr. American maintained that lead for much of the first half, stretching the advantage to as much as 17 at the 9:32 mark on a Carr three-pointer. The hosts led by 15 when junior forward Bryce Simon hit a layup and a three-pointer consecutively to make the score 30-15 with 4:45 left in the opening period. Army's Tyrell Thompson converted a three-point play with 40 ticks left in the first to make it a 12-point game at the half. AU outshot the visitors 55.6 percent to 33 percent and outrebounded the Black Knights, 15-8, in the opening half.
The Eagles again extended their lead to 17 (49-32) on another three-pointer by Carr - his fifth of the game, which put him in the NCAA's all-time single-season top-25 for three-pointers made with 126 this season - at the 11:01 mark.
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However, a simple act turned the momentum of the game over the next six minutes. On consecutive Army possessions, Black Knight guard Cleveland Richard hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 13 points, but more importantly, those free throws launched a 21-8 run in favor of the visitors that made the score 57-53 AU with 4:38 left in the game. During the stretch, Richard scored eight points and the Black Knights hit two three-pointers, the second by Jarell Brown to cap the run.
With the score getting tighter and time winding down, a surprising player stepped up for the Eagles. Freshman Nick Hendra, who had not gotten in a game in since Jan. 30 versus Navy, a stretch of nine games, hit a floating jumper in the lane to right the Eagles' ship. Hendra, who played 16 minutes, was clutch all game, hitting four-of-six shots and one-of-two three-pointers to finish with a career-high 11 points to go with five rebounds and an assist. Hendra also contributed a highlight-reel dunk in the second half, in which he completely jumped over an Army defender.
"Quite simply, we don't win without [Hendra] today," AU Head Coach Jeff Jones said.
Hendra's jumper restarted the Eagles' engines. On the next Army possession, Carr nabbed a steal and was fouled on the other end, then made both free throws to stretch the lead to eight points with 2:52 left. Army got no closer than six points the rest of the way. The Eagles hit 11-of-14 free throws in the last three minutes to seal the victory.
AU (20-11) outshot the Black Knights, 52.6 percent to 38.3 percent, and doubled up the visitors on the boards, 34-17. American's bench outscored Army's, 34-11.
Carr led three AU players in double-digits with 23 points, hitting five-of-10 shots from outside the arc and all eight of his free-throw attempts. He added four assists, and only came out of the game for a few seconds when his contact was knocked out of his eye late in the game. Meanwhile, Hendra had 11 and Jordan Nichols hit three-of-three shots from the field and four-of-five shots from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points. He added a game-high eight rebounds and two blocks in a season-high 32 minutes, one minute shy of his career-high.
Army was led by senior Jarell Brown, who scored 15 points but hit just four-of-17 shots, including three-of-13 from behind the arc. Richard and Josh Miller had 12 points a piece.
"I thought this was one of our best team defensive efforts of the year," Jones said. "In particular, I liked Garrison's effort against Brown."
History is on the side of the Eagles in Friday's championship game. The top seed in the PL Tournament has made it to the championship game in all 17 seasons and has won 13 of 17 and four of the last five.
Tickets for Friday's championship game are available by clicking here or by calling (202) 885-TIXX. For fans unable to make it to Bender Arena for the title tilt, the game will be broadcast live and nationwide by ESPN2.
