Four Eagles scored in double figures as AU won its third game in a row, 71-60 over Navy on Tuesday night in Annapolis.
With the victory, AU (14-13, 6-7 Patriot League) clinched fourth place in the conference and will host a first-round game in the PL tournament. Navy (14-14, 4-9 PL) fell into sixth place with just one game remaining. Navy could end up playing AU in the first round with a win in its final game against Colgate.
Navy held a 13-12 lead midway through the first half; however, the Eagles went on a 14-5 run over the final 10 minutes to take a nine point lead at halftime. Derrick Mercer led all scorers in the first half with eight points.
The Eagles started the second half right where they left off, scoring the first seven points of the frame to take a 34-18 lead after Andre Ingram hit a three-pointer with 17:26 remaining.
Navy's Greg Sprink had another big game against AU, scoring 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Trey Stanton came off the bench for the first time all season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Despite its efforts, Navy never got closer than nine points in the second half.
Ingram led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points, while Mercer finished with 15. Linas Lekavicius scored 12 points; including ten during the decisive 21-5 run that put the game out of reach. Arvydas Eitutavicius was also in double figures, scoring 10 points off the bench.
AU returns to action on Friday night against Lafayette on ESPNU. It is the final regular season home game for AU's six seniors, who will be honored in a post-game celebration.
Hoops Notes: AU's Brayden Billbe grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with his nine points.Navy shot just 33.3 percent from the field, compared to over 53 percent for AU.Lekavicius hit six of his seven field goal attempts.Navy's bench scored 27 of the Midshipmen's 60 points.
