In a frantic pace Saturday at Bender Arena, the AU men's basketball team put on its all-too-familiar display of immaturity and fell to Holy Cross, 69-62.
AU (9-16, 5-7 Patriot League) finished with 16 turnovers and 23 personal fouls.
"What's going through my head is our lack of preparation for this game," junior guard Andre Ingram said following the uninspired performance on Phil Bender day. "We knew the crowd was going to be there, yet we couldn't muster up the energy to have two great practices leading up to this game."
With 1:23 remaining in the game, Ingram stroked a 3-pointer from the right baseline to close the lead of the Crusaders (16-11, 9-3) to four. The basket juiced the announced crowd of 3,438, who hadn't seen AU that close since midway through the first half.
But as the clock wound down and the intensity heightened, the Eagles committed untimely fouls and costly miscues. None was worse than junior forward Brayden Billbe's foul on Alex Vander Baan, 28 seconds after Ingram's clutch 3-pointer. AU, already in the penalty for nearly five minutes, sent Vander Baan to the line.
After converting the first free throw Vander Baan missed the second, but Sekou Lewis failed to box out Keith Simmons and picked up an over-the-back foul trying to correct his error. Simmons converted just 1 of 2 from the line, leaving hope for AU, down six with 55 seconds remaining. Ingram then drove the length of the floor for an out-of-control layup that missed the rim.
Ingram led AU with 16 points despite a poor shooting night of 5 of 15 from the field. Jnior guard Arvydas Eitutavicius added 12 points for the Eagles, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Down 18 points with 10:37 left in the game, the Eagles assembled a 13-3 run to give them a chance down the stretch. But in the end, they made too many mistakes.
The game, dominated by the referees' whistles, featured 66 combined free-throw attempts by both teams.
Jones was visibly frustrated at times, walking out past his bench screaming at the referees. He was assessed a technical foul five minutes into the second half after AU freshman forward Brian Gilmore threw the ball to Crusader Kevin Hamilton, who drove the floor and was bumped in the act of shooting. The Crusaders converted all four free throws for a 15-point advantage.
Of the technical foul, Jones said, "I just wanted to get [the referees'] attention."
The Eagles' only lead came at 19:07 of the first half after junior guard Linas Lekavicius stole the ball and made a spirited drive, spin and finger-roll layup. Hamilton established the beginning of what would become a commanding lead for Holy Cross on the next possession by hitting a 3-pointer from the left wing. Holy Cross stretched its lead on a 13-1 run spanning just over five minutes of the first-half. The Eagles entered halftime down 34-22.
"We had an opportunity to compete against a very good team here at home," Jones said, "but our immaturity showed."
Eagle Contributing Writer Simone Echeverri-Gent contributed to this story.
