Clarification appended
The AU men's basketball team fell March 2 in the regular season finale 80-72 to Lafayette (17-14, 10-4 PL).
Daniel Munoz led AU (10-19, 5-9 PL) with a team high of 13 points. Mike Bersch, Tony Wroblicky, John Schoof and Stephen Lumpkins also scored in double figures.
The Eagles shot over 50 percent from the floor and three pointers. Lumpkins led AU with seven rebounds while Munoz had a team-high six assists. The Eagles connected on 75 percent of their free throws.
Lafayette shot just under 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Tony Johnson led Lafayette with 22 points and seven rebounds. Dan Trist had a team-high four assists.
The game remained competitive throughout the first half. Despite Lafayette jumping out to the initial lead, the Eagles took a 19-18 lead with 8:50 left in the period thanks to a Munoz three.
Lafayette surged back and took a 33-27 lead into the half.
The Leopards came out of the half strong stretching their lead to 17 with 12:17 left in the game.
AU slowly chipped the deficit away throughout the second half. AU made it a four-point game with 23 seconds left. The late surge was not enough to complete the comeback, so AU suffered another tough loss in a season filled with them.
With the loss, AU ends the regular season having lost four of its final five contests. The Eagles also end the season with a 3-13 record on the road, including having won only one of seven conference games away from Bender.
The Eagles have locked up the five seed in the Patriot League Tournament. AU will travel to West Point March 6 to take on the four seed U.S. Military Academy. In their last matchup Feb. 23, the Black Knights beat the Eagles 72-58.
Clarification: This article previously incorrectly stated Lafayette's conference record as 10-2.
sports@theeagleonline.com
