The Eagles ended their regular season with a double-overtime 95-92 victory against the Lafayette Leopards Saturday in Easton, Pa.
AU finished the regular season at 21-8, marking the third 20-win season for the team under Jeff Jones.
Troy Brewer turned in a phenomenal game, scoring eight of his season-high 28 points in the second overtime period. Brewer did most of his damage from beyond the arc, hitting five three-pointers on the afternoon.
The Eagles started the game on a 5-0 run, but were behind 8-7 with 17:23 left in the half. AU regained the lead after a Vlad Moldoveanu score. The teams exchanged scores, with neither team holding a lead greater than five points. At the end of the first half, the game was tied at 35.
The second half was similar to the first. Both teams exchanged scores with the Eagles holding onto a 52-51 lead midway through the period. With 4:39 remaining in the second half, the Eagles were down by four before Moldoveanu, Brewer and Stephen Lumpkins took over and scored AU’s last nine points of the half. Brewer hit a foul shot with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 67.
The Leopards controlled the first overtime period, never trailing at any point and were up by four with 40 seconds left in the extra period. Brewer nailed another clutch three and Nick Hendra hit both foul shots with two seconds left in the game to force a second overtime.
The Eagles took an 82-81 lead with 3:25 in the second overtime and never looked back. The Leopards were not able to come back despite three three-pointers in the last 1:37 of the game.
In addition to Brewer’s 28, Moldoveanu scored 30 points and collected eight rebounds while Lumpkins contributed 16 points. Nick Hendra had nine points and led the Eagles with six assists. The Leopards were led in scoring by Tony Johnson with 29 and Jared Mintz with 26.
The Eagles were excellent from the free throw line, nailing 89 percent of their shots. The Eagles also shot 10-22 from three-point range. AU finished 56.5 percent from the field, while the Leopards shot 47 percent. The Leopards did force 13 AU turnovers.
The Eagles finish the regular season with an 11-3 record against conference foes, marking the second time in program history AU has recorded 11 Patriot League victories. The Eagles regular season scoring leader was Moldoveanu, who recorded 19.5 points per game. Nick Hendra led the Eagles in steals with 26 and assists with 112. Lumpkins led the team with 35 blocks and eight rebounds per game.
The Eagles have not lost a game against Lafayette since 2005. AU will host Colgate University in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Championship at Bender Arena Wednesday.
sports@theeagleonline.com
