Despite a slow start, AU senior guard Garrison Carr's game-high 28 points helped lead the Eagles past their rival, College of the Holy Cross Saturday.
Both teams came out at the beginning of the game and struggled to get their offenses going. After five minutes, both teams had a combined total of 16 rebounds and only eight points.
"We didn't handle our emotion very well," AU Coach Jeff Jones said. "We were excited and ready to play but we were just going too fast."
The team came out of the locker room and immediately went to work. AU forced five turnovers and didn't allow Holy Cross to score until almost four minutes in. Carr, AU's leading scorer, came out and hit three three-point shots in row, helping the team jump out to a 12-point lead.
| AU Coach Jeff Jones discusses Saturday's win over Holy CrossAndrew Tomlinson / The Eagle |
"I just came out and knocked some shots down," Carr said. "Then we got our confidence up and some other guys started to knock some shots down."
Even though Holy Cross seemed to lose defensive focus they were able to dominate AU's big man Brian Gilmore on offense. Even though Gilmore still got his rebounds they managed to hold him to nine points, three points under his season average.
With Gilmore struggling offensively, freshman Stephen Lumpkins stepped up and made a big impact. Lumpkins, who has been an important player off the bench for the Eagles all year, doubled his offensive average with six points. He made two important pull-up jumpers to keep up the Eagles' momentum during a Holy Cross scoring run.
Another one of AU's starters, Jordan Nichols, had arguably his worst game all season. Nichols was pulled early due to foul trouble, but even with his limited time on the floor, Nichols was able to manage two assists. One of them was a 50-foot pass to Derrick Mercer to pretty much seal the game.
"I saw we were pressuring the ball and I didn't want to be the one to let my man catch the ball," Nichols said. "I just tried to get a hand on the ball and I thought I might keep it in play and I looked up and there was Mercer."
Both the Crusaders and the Eagles got into foul trouble early. Neither team was able to capitalize on their free throws, as both shot about 60 percent from the line. While most fouls were personal, there was one technical fouled issued to Jones for bench misconduct. He said it was his first he could remember in the last four years.
Coming into Saturday's game, AU led the Patriot League. The only other team in the league that could potentially catch AU was Holy Cross. With the win, AU now has two games in hand with two games to go.
The Eagles will play their last home game at 8 p.m. Wednesday against the U.S. Naval Academy. The Eagles went to Annapolis, Md., at the beginning of conference play and were able to squeak by with a one-point win.
You can reach this staff writer at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
