The AU men’s basketball team let its first exhibition game slip away against the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets, 49-47.
With the last 10 seconds ticking off of the clock, the Yellow Jackets guard Eric Pugh snagged a rebound off of AU junior Nick Hendra’s three-pointer and sprinted up the court. After receiving a quick screen, Pugh leaped up for the game-winning layup.
After leading throughout most of the first half, the Eagles were not able to sustain their lead and fell in the final minutes of the game. Turnovers and sloppy play did the Eagles in.
“Twenty-five turnovers was one of the most obvious reasons why we lost the game,” Head Coach Jeff Jones said.
In the first half, both teams were firing on all cylinders, forcing 10 or more turnovers each. The Eagles were able to keep Randolph-Macon from scoring over a 13:34 stretch. However, the offense did not execute with similar force. The Eagles did establish a 9-0 run to lead 18-9, but RMC reduced the lead to six with a three-pointer making the score 18-12 at halftime.
Randolph-Macon challenged the Eagles offensively in the second half. After AU’s Riley Grafft and Blake Jolivette helped sustain a six-point lead of 25-19, the Yellow Jackets soon took a 7-0 run and gained the lead for the first time in the game, 28-27 with 11:11 remaining. Neither team would lead by more than two points for the rest of the game.
AU collapsed in the last two minutes of the game; with 1:22 left, AU sophomore Stephen Lumpkins hit a game tying three-pointer. Nick Hendra followed with a layup to take the lead, but the Yellow Jackets responded with a jumper from David Carlson, which tied the game at 47 points.
AU would have the last possession with 33 seconds left. Nick Hendra put up a three-pointer that missed and was captured by RMC’s Eric Pugh. He drove up the court with six seconds left and scored the game-winning bucket, stealing a victory from the Eagles, 49-47.
Despite the win, the Yellow Jackets only shot 32.7 percent from the field, 10 percent worse than AU. Nick Hendra led the Eagles overall with 18 points, while also grabbing six rebounds. Daniel Muñoz had six points, three rebounds and two steals in his collegiate debut. Randolph-Macon scored 37 points in the second half, more than three times what they scored in the first half. A major downfall for AU was the 1-9 they put up beyond the arc.
“We struggled to score points ... 25 turnovers is too much, so, we must be stronger with the basketball,” Jones said after the game.
Several players said that if the team is to be successful they are going to have to establish a consistent play style.
“This team will create its own identity, there is no last year,” AU guard Daniel Muñoz said. “We gave [RMC] too many open shots. We needed to get out quicker to defend [against] them.”
The AU men’s basketball team will host Catholic University on Nov. 8 in Bender Arena.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
