AU returned to the win column Jan. 28,picking up a 69-61 victory over Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.
AU forward Charles Hinkle led the charge with a game-high 23 points, while center Tony Wroblicky shot an impressive 6-7 from the floor en route to posting a career-high 13 points.
Daniel Munoz continued his strong play running the offense, as he chipped in a team-high five assists while also leading the Eagles (14-8, 5-2 PL) with six rebounds.
Rob Delaney led the Leopards (9-13, 4-3 PL) in the loss with 12 points.
“I thought we played well,” AU Head Coach Jeff Jones told AU Athletics. “Lafayette came out of the second half as the aggressors, and we held on and played hard.”
The Eagles were able to withstand a furious second-half rally by Lafayette, never backing down as the Leopards continued to fight. AU entered halftime with a 35-28 lead, but the advantage evaporated as the Leopards opened up an 11-2 run in the first 2:38 of the second half to go ahead 39-37.
With the Eagles ahead 43-42 following the under-16 minute media timeout, AU responded with a 12-2 run to take a 55-44 lead. This provided the Eagles with their first double-digit lead of the game, and AU never looked back as it picked up its fifth PL victory.
Coming off a road loss to conference-leading Bucknell University Jan. 25, AU looked sluggish early in the game, falling behind 9-3 five minutes into the contest.
With Lafayette in front 23-18 with six minutes left in the first half, the Eagles’ energy finally picked up.
A 10-1 spurt gave AU its first lead of the game and all the momentum. As the first half drew to a close, Hinkle drilled his third 3-pointer of the half, extending AU’s lead to 35-28 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Perhaps most impressive for the Eagles was their 3-point shooting. AU shot 58 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, finishing the game 9-18 from long range.
Lafayette shot 44 percent from the field but struggled from 3-point range, where they finished the game 6-22.
Ryan Willen, who entered the game averaging 14.8 points per game for Lafayette, scored 11 points on 3-9 shooting.
The win caps off an impressive first half of the Patriot League season for AU.
The Eagles have won four of their last five games and enter the second half of the season tied with Lehigh University for second in the PL.
AU returns to the court to face Colgate University Feb. 4 in Hamilton, N.Y. The Eagles return to Bender Arena for an important contest against Lehigh Feb. 9.
