Senior guard Derrick Mercer scored a game-high 15 points and gave out seven assists to help the AU men's basketball team defeat Lehigh University Saturday night, 66-58. The win improves the Eagles' record to 7-1 in the Patriot League and 15-7 overall, their best conference start since the 1981-82 season in the East Coast Conference.
After leading throughout the entire game, the win was not fully in the bag until the Eagles' hit eight of ten from the free-throw line in the final minute of play to seal the victory. Senior guard Garrison Carr scored five of his 14 points from the line during that final stretch.
Although it took the final minute of play to guarantee the win for the Eagles, AU took the lead right from the opening tip and never looked back.
Senior forward Frank Borden scored the game's first points on a jumper only 42 seconds into the game to start a quick 6-2 AU scoring run.
The team pushed the lead up to seven on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Nick Hendra at the 9:34 mark to give the Eagles a 16-9 lead.
The two teams would trade baskets back and forth over the remainder of the first half, with the Mountain Hawks shaving the lead down to only four, at 28-24, as the two teams went into the locker room.
The Eagles started out the second half as strong as they played in the first half, going on a 7-3 run in the first three minutes of the half to go up 35-27.
The Mountain Hawks once again came back to cut the lead down to three, 39-36, at the 12:32 mark. Once again, the Eagles quickly responded, with an 8-1 run capped by three-pointer from senior forward Bryce Simon to go up 10, 47-37, with a little more than ten minutes remaining.
This was the largest lead of the game for the Eagles, who let the lead slip down to only two, at 51-49, with 3:35 to go, before holding on for the eventual eight point win.
Carr was the only other double digit scorer for the Eagles, collecting 14 points on four of 14 shooting, including one of eight from beyond the three-point line and five of six from the free-throw line.
The Eagles will continue their Patriot League schedule at 7 p.m. Wednesday, when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa., to take on the Bucknell University Bison.
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
