The AU men’s basketball team clinched a top two finish in the Patriot League standings with a 64-55 victory over the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md on Feb. 26.
The win also marks the second time in AU’s 13-year Patriot League tenure that the Eagles (17-11, 13-4 PL ) have reached 13 conference wins.
“All league games are like this tonight,” head coach Mike Brennan told AUEagles.com. “It’s the second time around and the familiarity with each other becomes more apparent and you just have to grind it out.”
The first half was a tightly contested affair that began with Navy (9-19, 4-13 PL ) starting strongly as the Mids built up a six-point lead following a Brandon Venturini three-pointer with 8:50 to go in the half. AU answered right back with a three-pointer of their own from junior guard Austin Carroll, cutting the lead in half.
With 7:01 to go, Carroll scored another three-pointer to give AU a 19-17 lead. The Eagles increased their lead to as much as five before Navy closed the half strongly, cutting the lead to one, ending the half trailing 27-26.
The second half started just as tightly as Navy battled back to take a two-point lead, 38-36 with 11:27 left. The Mids and Eagles continued to trade baskets until junior guard John Schoof made two free throws with 8:41 left in the half, giving AU a 43-42 lead that the Eagles would maintain throughout the rest of the game.
AU slowly increased its lead as Navy continued to foul to preserve time for the remainder. AU led by as many as 13 in the final two minutes of the game and finished with 11 point margin of victory.
One key to the AU victory was its three-point shooting. The Eagles made 10 three-pointers throughout the game with four from Schoof. The game was also featured a balanced scoring effort from the Eagles with four starters scoring in double digits and solid production coming from the bench.
Schoof and junior guard Darius Gardner earned the most points for AU with 15 each. Sophomore guard Jesse Reed scored 12 and senior center Tony Wroblicky had 10 to go with his team leading seven rebounds. Gardner and Schoof also led the team in assists with four apiece.
The next and final regular season game for AU will be March 1 against Bucknell University. An AU victory coupled with a Boston University loss at Holy Cross would give AU the Patriot League regular season title.
