The American University men’s basketball team (15-11) faced off against the Holy Cross Crusaders (9-18) at Black History Month Celebration night in Bender Arena.
The Eagles were coming off a tough loss on the road against Boston University. AU was looking for a much needed win against Holy Cross, a team they had previously beat in overtime earlier in the season.
American won the tip and took off running, establishing an early 4-point lead with a layup in the paint by junior forward Matt Rogers and a jumper by freshman guard Geoff Sprouse.
The Crusaders answered back with a dunk in the paint. However, the Eagles kept pushing their lead out, and with a made post up in the paint by Rogers, they were up 11 with 8:53 left in the first half.
Holy Cross was not ready to roll over and instead fought back with an 11-0 run of their own, tying the game 23-23. The Crusaders’ run was stopped when junior guard Colin Smalls put in a jumper to put the Eagles up 2; however, Holy Cross was able to tie up the score once again.
The Eagles and Crusaders traded baskets back and forth until the teams tied at 32 with a 3-point basket from Sprouse. Holy Cross responded with a layup that put them up 2 at the half, 34-32.
The second half started out with a layup from junior guard Johnny O’Neil to tie up the game, to which the Holy Cross responded with a 4-point run. The Eagles were able to fight back to establish a 55-48 lead before the Crusaders went on a 6-point run.
With 6:28 left in the game, the Crusaders tied up the game for the 16th time that night with a 3-pointer. From there, Holy Cross went on a 9-0 run, forcing American to call a timeout.
“At that point, all you can do is foul, call time outs and hope you can score,” head coach Mike Brennan said.
The Eagles were unable to recover, and the Crusaders established as large as a 10-point lead, ultimately cementing the loss for American 74-66.
Smalls led the Eagles with 16 points, Rogers contributed 12 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, while O’Neil added 11 points and 8 rebounds.
“Tonight shows that anybody can beat anybody in this conference. We have to be ready,” Brennan said.
The Eagles will next look to take on Lehigh on Feb. 18 for Senior Day at Bender Arena.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings and Nina Heller. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis and Natasha LaChac.
