The American University men’s basketball team (17-10) defeated the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (10-15) with a final score of 72-51. American completed the season sweep on Feb. 15 in Bender Arena during their annual Black History Month celebration.
Junior guard Geoff Sprouse shot 4-for-5 from behind the arc, giving him his 126th career 3-pointer and tying him for the tenth most 3-pointers made in program history.
The teams last faced up in Baltimore on Jan. 13, where the Eagles completely demolished the Greyhounds 73-54. The Eagles came into the game looking to do that once again.
Sophomore forward Greg Jones got things going for the Eagles with a 3-pointer from the wing as the team took a quick 3-0 lead.
The Greyhounds started the half with offensive intensity and defensive aggression. They went on a quick 9-0 run and recorded 2 steals during that stretch. The Greyhounds led 9-3 with 16:47 left to play.
Freshman guard Wyatt Nausadis broke American's four-minute dry spell with a floater through contact to cut into the Greyhound lead.
Graduate forward Matt Rogers followed that up by sinking a 3-pointer from the wing. Directly after, Jones drove through traffic for a layup, plus the foul. The Eagles cut the lead to 10-13 with 11:58 left in the half.
A Loyola 3-pointer with 9:48 left to play extended the lead to 18-12, but the Eagles rallied and went on an offensive tear.
Nausadis tied the game at 18 points apiece with a turnaround shot from midrange , and the Eagles never looked back from there. Rogers hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and graduate guard Colin Smalls was left wide open in the corner and hit another shot from behind the arc.
Rogers capped off the 22-9 run to end the half with a booming dunk with 1:30 remaining.
Going into halftime, the Eagles’ hot shooting propelled them to a 34-27 lead. They shot 57.7 percent from the field in the half.
The Eagles, who have struggled this season with blowing first-half leads, didn’t let their advantage slip away against the Greyhounds.
Smalls got the half going with a quick layup with little resistance in the paint, and Rogers hit another 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a 12-point game with 18:52 left to go.
With 3:25 remaining, the game was all but won for the Eagles as Sprouse hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game. That was the shot that propelled him to be tied for tenth all-time in American-made 3-pointers in just his third season with the team.
At this point, the Bender Arena faithful began chanting, “Start the busses,” at the Greyhounds.
“It felt great and having the fans out here, it just kept the energy up. It felt great to keep that 10-point, 15-point lead and stay on top,” Rogers said.
American finished the half shooting 9-of-12 from behind the arc as the Eagles secured the 72-51 victory.
Rogers led the team in scoring and rebounds with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Sprouse was right behind him with 12 points and a team-high 2 steals. Senior guard Elijah Stephens added a team-high 6 assists.
Postgame, Sprouse shared how grateful he was for his teammates and their support in helping him achieve this milestone.
“It feels good. I can't do it without my teammates in order to give me the right shots,” Sprouse said.
As the season begins to come to a close, Eagles head coach Duane Simpkins reiterated the importance for his players, especially the veterans, to enjoy these moments.
“We treat every single day moving forward like, ‘hey, this could be the last one that we have together as this team.’ You know, we got grad seniors and seniors. We talk to those guys pretty regularly now about, ‘hey man, really enjoy this. You won't get another moment like this the rest of your life,” Simpkins said.
Smalls, who is in his final season with the Eagles, echoed the sentiment.
“It's really just bittersweet. Being here so long, seeing how the program changed and how far the program has come,” Smalls said. “But it's great to see where the program has come and where it's going. So I'm happy to leave my fingerprints on the program in a good way.”
The Eagles travel to New York to face off against the Army Black Knights, who hold the second spot in the Patriot League rankings, on Feb. 19.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella, Hannah Langenfeld and Nicole Kariuki.
