After Colgate's Dan Gentile tipped in a miss by teammate Jon Simon with 0.2 seconds remaining, it appeared as though AU was doomed to suffer yet another agonizingly close Patriot League loss. However, Brian Gilmore ran along the baseline before attempting to inbound the ball, drawing defender Kyle Chones right into Arvydas Eitutavicius, who held his ground and drew a foul. Eitutavicius sank both free throws to tie the game at 51 and send the game into overtime.
In the extra frame, AU hit 10 of 11 free throws to escape from Hamilton, N.Y., with a 64-58 victory on Sunday afternoon that puts them in fourth place in the conference with a record of 4-7. Colgate also stands at 4-7, however AU holds the tie-breaker as a result of their season sweep of the Red Raiders. The top four seeds in the league get to host first-round playoff games.
Colgate appeared to take control of the game in the second half when Chones hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes to help the Red Raiders expand a one point halftime lead into an 11- point margin.
However, with the score reading 40-30, AU struck back with a 10-0 run to tie the game with a little over nine minutes remaining. The sequence was highlighted by back-to-back three point plays by Andre Ingram and Derrick Mercer, both of whom drove to the lane to draw fouls.
The teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the period, but AU had a chance to hold the ball for a final shot after Kendall Chones missed a lay-up. However Mercer was called for an offensive foul as he was apparently attempting to call a timeout, which gave Colgate the chance to take a late lead.
In the first half, Linas Lekavicius scored six of AU's first eight points to lead the Eagles to an early 10-5 lead. Colgate rallied quickly, taking a one point lead with over 11 minutes remaining. The two teams kept exchanging the lead, with Colgate taking a 23-22 victory into the locker room.
Simon led all scorers with 19 points, while Kyle Chones added 16 for the Red Raiders. For American, Eitutavicius finished with 13 points, all coming in the second half and overtime. Mercer also scored 13, and was joined in double figures by Ingram and Lekavicius.
One of the keys for the Eagles was capitalizing on Colgate's mistakes. AU scored 20 points off of Red Raiders turnovers, including six in the overtime period. Despite turning the ball over 14 times, the Eagles limited Colgate to just eight points off of them.
AU returns to action on Wednesday night when they host Army at 7:30 p.m. at Bender Arena. Colgate will also be in action on Valentine's Day, hosting Lehigh at 7 p.m.
Hoops Notes: The game marked the 100th victory for Coach Jeff Jones (100-100 in 7seven seasons with the Eagles). Colgate limited the Eagles to just three assists...AU excelled at the charity stripe, hitting 22 of 24 free throws...ESPNU broadcast the game live, marking the first time American has been nationally televised all season.
