PHILADELPHIA, March 20 -- For 20 minutes, the proverbial clock seemed stuck at 11:59, keeping the Cinderella dream alive for the AU Eagles in their bid to defeat the Villanova University Wildcats Thursday night. Yet, as the final buzzer sounded, that clock finally struck midnight, ending the dream of a historic upset on the way to a 80-67 loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
It's disappointing to lose a game in which our guys played so hard," AU Head Coach Jeff Jones said. "Villanova wore us down. We weren't able down the stretch to keep pace."
Despite an overwhelmingly pro-Villanova crowd at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, the Eagles came out of the gate red-hot, executing their game plan to perfection.
After allowing the first five points of the game to Villanova off the opening tip, the Eagles got on the board with a bucket from senior guard Derrick Mercer to cut the Wildcat lead to 5-2.
The Eagles kept themselves in the game with strong three-point shooting, including buckets by senior Brian Gilmore and Mercer four minutes into the game to trail by only three at 12-9.
The key to the first-half success was senior guard Garrison Carr, whose first three-pointer of the half gave the Eagles their first lead of the game at 19-17 with 11:44 remaining, bringing the Eagles fans to their feet and silencing the Villanova supporters.
The two teams traded leads back and forth before the Eagles retook the lead on another Carr three-pointer - one of four he would hit in the first half, an advantage the team would not lose as they took a commanding 41-31 lead into halftime.
"It's unbelievable," Joshua Carter, one of Carr's cousins, said during halftime. "I wouldn't expect to be in this position against Villanova."
The Eagles strategy paid off during the first half, as the team enjoyed a ten-point lead, connecting on 53.3 percent of their shots from beyond the three point line, with Carr leading the way with four three-pointers and Gilmore adding three of his own from downtown.
Even legendary former Georgetown head coach and current CBS Sports announcer John Thompson said he was impressed with the way the team played in the opening half.
"I agree with Coach Jones' game plan so far," he said. "When you are up by ten, its hard to disagree with it."
Coming out of the locker room, it looked as if the Eagles momentum would propel them to victory.
Gilmore and Mercer hit back to back buckets only two minutes into the half, building the lead up to 14 at 45-31, their largest of the game and sending the AU faithful into a frenzy.
Yet, Villanova started to claw back, taking advantage of the lack of AU size and strength and drawing quick fouls on Gilmore and senior forward Jordan Nichols inside the paint.
Villanova center Dante Cunningham and forward Dwayne Anderson each started driving to the bucket to get the free throw, with each big man scoring 25 points in the game. This would be the key to the Villanova attack in the second half as the team overall hit 24 of 26 free-throws to erase AU's commanding lead down the stretch.
The Eagles continued to hold onto the lead through the opening minutes of the second half, with Carr hitting two more three-pointers at the 13:11 mark to push the AU lead back up to 10 at 53-43.
This would be the last big lead the Eagles would enjoy, as the Wildcats started their offensive run that would eventually put them in the driver's seat.
A commanding 19-2 scoring outburst over six minutes of play erased AU's lead and saw the Eagles fall behind by seven at 62-55 with five minutes remaining.
Carr hit another runner to cut the lead down to five only thirty seconds later, but this was as close as the Eagles got throughout the rest of the game, falling by the eventual final score of 80-67.
The major factor for the Eagles was their lack of three-point shooting. What had been their lifeline in the first half dried up in the second period of play, with only the team only shooting two of 12 from beyond the arc and only 38.7 percent from the field overall.
Despite the loss, Carr shined in his final game in an AU uniform, going eight of 18 overall, including six of 14 from three-point range to finish with a team-high 22 points. Fellow seniors Mercer and Gilmore also finished with double digit scoring, with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Sophomore Steve Luptak had nothing but praise for his senior teammates after the game, a group of guys he admits he will be miss playing with next year.
"I was proud of all the leadership of all of our seniors," he said. "They became true leaders for me as soon as I stepped on the court here at AU."
Senior Bryce Simon summed up the attitude best after the game when he reflected on everything that had happened during the course of the season.
"I am proud of how we played every single game," he said. "That's our motto."
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
Updated 3/20 at 2:10 p.m.
