The AU Eagles beat the College of Holy Cross Crusaders 60-57 on the road, for their third straight win Saturday.
Forwards Stephen Lumpkins and Vlad Moldoveanu teamed up to provide more than half of the Eagles’ scoring in the conference victory. Lumpkins lead the team with 20 points in addition to grabbing 10 rebounds. Moldoveanu scored 14 points and senior guard Nick Hendra contributed eight points and four steals.
Holy Cross’s leading scorers were Andrew Keister and Devin Brown who both scored 14 for the game. Junior guard Troy Brewer and freshman forward Tony Wroblicky provided support for the Eagles with their rebounding game as each finished the contest with five rebounds.
After the Eagles started the game with a 10-7 advantage thanks to the scoring combination of Lumpkins and Moldoveanu, Holy Cross countered with an 8-1 run, giving the Crusaders a 15-11 lead. AU would fight their way back with baskets from Lumpkins and sophomore guard Daniel Munoz to tie the game. A flurry of scores from Hendra and Lumpkins would give AU the lead and they would not look back for the rest of the first half. The Eagles led by as many as five points during this stretch and took a 27-24 lead into the locker room at the end of the half.
Holy Cross started the second half on a tear and took back the lead from the Eagles 39-33. But Lumpkins and the rest of the AU team continued to fight back. After keeping within striking distance, AU went on a 7-0 run to put themselves ahead. Holy Cross would keep the game tight in the final minutes after they pulled within two with just 31 seconds left in the game. However, the Eagles were able to hold off the late run from the Crusaders and get the win.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field. The Crusaders hit 41 percent of their field goals. The Eagles out-rebounded the Crusaders 36 to 35.
In addition to the win, Lumpkins recorded his 500th career rebound. Lumpkins is the 27th player in AU men’s basketball history to record 500 rebounds. After the game, Lumpkins career total currently sits at 507 putting him six rebounds behind former Eagles Jim Shickora ‘64 and Daryl Holmes ‘90 for 25th on the all time list.
The win pushes the Eagles record to 14-6 with a 4-1 record in Patriot League play. AU is currently second in the Patriot League.
The Eagles continue their Patriot league play on Wednesday when they travel to Annapolis, Md. to play the United States Naval Academy.
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