Senior forward Brian Gilmore recorded a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds but it was not enough to prevent the men's basketball team from falling to Mount St. Mary's University Monday night 57-52. The second-straight loss for the Eagles drops their record to 4-3 on the season.
The game started off very slowly for both teams, with the Eagles holding an 8-4 lead midway though the first half, following a three-pointer by senior guard Garrison Carr.
The Mountaineers battled back to tie the game at eight at the 7:57 mark on a lay-up by sophomore forward Pierce Brown. This would be the only tie of the first half, as a three-pointer by senior guard Derrick Mercer regained the lead for the Eagles, starting a 7-0 run that would put AU up 15-8 with 6:15 remaining in the half.
AU would pad their lead throughout the rest of the opening period, as they outscored the Mountaineers 11-9 during the final five minutes to take a 24-17 lead into halftime.
As well as the Eagles played in the first half, they played just as poorly in the second, letting Mount St. Mary's get right back into the game.
Garrison Carr's lay-up two minutes into the second half pushed the Eagle lead to 11, their largest lead of the game.
However, this lead would be short-lived. The Mountaineers, who had only 29 percent from the floor in the first-half, exploded offensively, starting a 12-4 run, capped off by a three-pointer by junior forward Kelly Beidler to give Mount St. Mary's their first lead of the game, 29-28.
The two teams traded baskets back and forth, as Gilmore responded with a bucket of his own to put AU up 30-29 with 13:25 remaining in the game.
This would be the last time the Eagles had the lead for the remainder of the game, as the Mountaineers went on runs of 9-3 and 11-6 to push the lead to double digits at 49-39 with 4:31 remaining. Junior guard Jeremy Goode scored 12 of his game-high 29 points for the Mountaineers during this stretch to help give his team the lead.
Gilmore once again tried to rally the Eagles, scoring three consecutive baskets, including a thunderous slam dunk at the 3:37 mark and a three-pointer two minutes later, to pull the Eagles to within three at 51-48.
Mercer made two free throws with 33 seconds remaining, which put AU behind by only two, but a failed in-bounds play with 20 seconds to go sealed the Eagles fate, losing by the final score of 57-52.
Despite the loss, Gilmore said the most important thing was to learn from their mistakes for the upcoming games against Georgetown and Maryland.
"We cant let the guys get down about this loss, it's a good team that we played, an NCAA tournament team," he said. "The key thing is that if we don't take anything away from this loss, then it will be a bad loss. We have to get rid of the mental errors."
The Eagles will now travel on the road for four games, starting with a clash against Georgetown University at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Verizon Center.
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
