AU 66 - Carleton 64
Brayden Billbe scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles to an overtime victory over four-time Canadian National Champion Carleton University Thursday night.
AU trailed for most of the first half, with Carleton leading by as many as eight points. However, a Garrison Carr three-pointer started 12-0 run over the last seven minutes of the half gave the Eagles a 28-24 halftime lead.
The Eagles held an eight point lead with under five minutes to go in the game, but Carleton stormed back to take a 59-57 lead on a three-pointer by Aaron Doornekamp with just 16 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, reserve forward Travis Lay was fouled and hit both free throws to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Derrick Mercer was perfect on four free throw attempts to put the Eagles in the lead and Doornekamp missed a jumper with five seconds left that would have given Carleton the lead.
"That was a great exhibition, we absolutely got our money's worth," said Coach Jeff Jones. "We did a lot of things well, and saw some things that we have to work on."
Andre Ingram had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, while Doornekamp lead the Ravens with 19 points on 6-24 shooting.
AU 85 - Mount Olive 65
Five Eagles scored in double figures as AU routed Division II Mount Olive on Saturday afternoon.
AU started out slow, falling behind 7-0 in the opening three minutes. However, a 19-0 run put the Eagles comfortably ahead. Andre Ingram led the Eagles with nine points in the first half, helping the Eagles build a 16 point lead at halftime. The Eagles shot 68 percent in the half and hit six three-pointers.
Early in the second half, Mount Olive went on a 10-2 run to get within eight points, but that is the closest they would get for the rest of the game. The Eagles extended their lead to as many as 25, shooting 4-6 from three point range. However, the Bender Arena crowd was silenced with three minutes left in the game when Mercer limped off the court with an ankle injury and did not return. Coach Jones expects him to be ready for practice this week.
Billbe shot seven for seven from the field to lead the Eagles in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points. Carr and Arvydas Eitutavicius came off the bench to score 13 points each, each hitting three three-pointers.
Hoops Notes: Lay sprained his ankle during Friday's practice and did not dress for Saturday's game. According to Coach Jones, Lay should be ready for Friday's season opener.Forward Cornelio Guibunda made his Bender Arena debut on Saturday, recording three points, three rebounds and a block in just four minutes of action. Guibunda sat out all last season after transferring from Georgetown.AU's bench was charged with a technical foul in the opening minutes of Thursday's game after Coach Jones argued with the referee.
