In the first Bender Arena White Out, the men’s basketball team, helped by Troy Brewer, Vlad Moldoveanu and Stephen Lumpkins, beat Colgate University 69-60.
“Good win, I guess you would probably call it ‘workman like’,” Head Coach Jeff Jones said. “I don’t know if we did anything outstanding, we just kind of kept after it.”
With over 2,000 fans donning white apparel, the Eagles opened up the game on a 9-2 run, courtesy of Lumpkins’ six points in four and a half minutes.? However, Colgate’s Joe Hoban helped the Raiders keep up with AU as he went 3-4 from behind the arc to assist in Colgate’s 83 percent outside shooting for the first half.
Hoban’s three-point shooting along with Sterling Melville’s inside game extended Colgate’s lead to 26-22 with 6:42 remaining in the first half.? With less than five minutes left, the Eagles got the spark they needed to shift the momentum in their favor.
Brewer came up with a monster block to prevent Hoban from extending Colgate’s lead to six. On the ensuing offensive possession, Nick Hendra’s three-point attempt bounced off the front of the rim, but Brewer was there to throw down a thunderous jam to electrify the crowd and put the Eagles back within two points.
“That play in particular, I had turned the ball over, so I just wanted to make up for it and get back and it led to everything that that play did,” Brewer said. “[The dunk] might be my best, that definitely might be my best highlight.”
AU took the momentum from the Brewer dunk and went on an 8-3 run across two halves that turned the Eagles’ 29-28 deficit at halftime into a 32-29 lead to open the second half.
Lumpkins led all scorers going into the locker room with 10, and continued to attack the rim in the second half as the junior scored a season-high 27 points on nine for 13 shooting from the floor and 82 percent from the free throw line.
“Going into the game I thought we had a good match-up inside,” Lumpkins said. “Our guys did a good job of getting the ball inside, I thought I had a pretty good match-up and we were able to score on it.”
The inside game was pivotal for AU, as they outscored Colgate 28-16 in the paint.? The Eagles’ second-leading scorer, Moldoveanu, also chipped in 17 points, improving on a seven point performance against Bucknell University on Wednesday.
The Raiders’ three-point shots could not keep up with the 69 percent field goal shooting by the Eagles, as AU earned a hard-fought, 69-60 victory, according to Jones.
“I thought our defense was better [in the second half,]” Jones said. “At least by the numbers, we rebounded better, but I think the big thing was we did a better job of finishing at the offensive end. That makes the difference in a hard-fought game.”
With only four games remaining in the regular season, AU looks to improve on the performance of their three key players, especially Lumpkins’ season-high performance.
“There’s a parallel with our team and Lump,” Jones said. “What we want to challenge him to do and what we want to do as a team, is we have to be the best we can be. We are really striving to take that next step.”
The Eagles will return home on Sunday to face The College of the Holy Cross. First, AU will travel to West Point, N.Y., to take on the Army Black Knights.
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