The AU Men's Basketball team opened its 2004-2005 campaign with a decisive 68-45 exhibition victory over Catholic University on Wednesday night at Bender Arena. The Eagles were paced by sophomore Andre Ingram, who scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4 of 6 from three-point range.
"We came in real excited and wanted to get ahead early and start the season off right," said Ingram, who also pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assists in 32 minutes of action.
AU got 16 points from senior forward Raimondas Petrauskas, who hit all six of his field goals and all four of his free throws. Starting forwards Jason Thomas and Patrick Okpwae scored eight points apiece.
The highlight of the night came on back-to-back dunks by Okpwae in the middle of the second half. With 12:09 left in the contest, Ingram drove and drew a double team, leaving Okpwae open under the basket. He dumped the ball off to the senior, who jammed the ball home, drawing a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
After Catholic converted on the technical free throws, the Eagles struck back on their next possession. Junior Craig Weinstein lobbed a pass to a cutting Okpwae, who caught the ball in midair and slammed it home with authority, drawing amazing cheers from the Bender Arena crowd.
"In the second half, we really started to execute what we've been doing in practice, and this was a good measure of where we are as a team," said head coach Jeff Jones.
In the first half, Catholic hung with the Eagles, who led 25-20 at the break. Jones refocused his team at the half and it shot 64 percent in the final 20 minutes, outscoring CU, 43-25.
"We weren't competing early," Jones said. "We were a step late offensively. We came out in the second half and took the game to them."
Jones was pleased with the effort of his bench, led by sophomore Sekou Lewis (four points, seven rebounds), Petrauskas and freshman Travis Lay (4 rebounds).
"Sekou has been one of the pleasant surprises in camp, and Travis is a multipurpose player who we'll use both at the 3 and 4," Jones said.
Lewis now begins a six-game suspension for participating in unsanctioned summer league games, but will be eligible on Dec. 11, when the Eagles host Ohio University.
The Eagles also played without starting point guard Linas Lekavicius, who sat out with a sprained ankle but will be ready for the season.
"Linas hurt himself in practice, but if this was a regular-season game, he could have gone," Jones said. "We just took the extra precaution because it was preseason."
The point guard position is one in question for the Eagles, who must make up for the loss of all-Patriot League performer Andres Rodriguez. Lekavicius will start, but Weinstein and senior Ryan Graham will also see action at the point.
Next up for the Eagles is Monday's season opener against Virginia Commonwealth in the opening round of the Preseason NIT. Their trip to Richmond marks a homecoming for Ingram and a renewal of the rivalry between Jones and VCU coach Jeff Capel, whom Jones coached against when he was at Virginia and Capel was playing at Duke.
