The American University men’s basketball team (22-13) was eliminated in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament after being defeated 83-72 by the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (23-12) on March 19.
The Mountaineers will move on to the first round to play the Duke Blue Devils on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Blue Devils are the top team in the NCAA, according to the latest Associated Press poll, and are the second overall seed in the tournament
The Eagles, who have never won an NCAA Tournament game, hoped to make school history.
At the top of the game, the Mountaineers won the tip and immediately hit a 3-pointer. Graduate student forward Matt Rogers answered with a hook shot. Thanks to another Mount St. Mary’s score, the Eagles trailed 5-2 with 19:15 to go.
The Eagles then took a quick 8-7 lead off back to back 3-pointers from graduate guard Colin Smalls with 17:32 remaining in the half.
As the Eagles found themselves up 9-8 with 16:40 on the clock, Rogers went to the floor with a knee injury and briefly left the game to be evaluated in the locker room. While he was out, his teammates adjusted fast.
With 14:07 on the clock, sophomore forward Matt Mayock drove baseline and laced a midrange shot to tie the game at 15. Junior guard Geoff Sprouse then swished a transition 3-pointer to put American up 18-15 with 13:12 left to play.
While both squads exchanged buckets, Rogers made his return to the court and made an impact right away. He tied the game at 22 with a driving layup, 10:48 remaining. He also cashed in a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the Mountaineers’ lead 29-28 with 7:18 remaining.
While trying to box out his defenders, Rogers got injured again and had to be assisted off the court by his teammates. He was ruled out for the rest of the game, but returned to the bench during the second half to cheer his team on.
The severity of Rogers’ injury is still unknown. Mountaineers head coach Donny Lind said postgame he and the team wished the graduate student a speedy recovery and would keep him in their prayers.
After losing Rogers, the Eagles went down 7 points, and a buzzer beating 3-pointer put the Mountaineers up 48-38 at halftime.
The Eagles started the second half hot, trying to mount a comeback. Senior guard Elijah Stephens got things rolling with a quick layup to cut the lead 48-40 with 19:50 remaining.
The Eagles were also hot from behind the arc in the second half. Stephens, sophomore forward Greg Jones and Mayock each hit 3-pointers, but the Eagles were still down 56-51 with 15:11 remaining.
The Mountaineers responded, going on a 12-0 scoring run capped off with a thunderous dunk. With 9:35 remaining, American was down 68-51.
Though the Eagles tried to spark a comeback, they could not keep up with the offensive firepower from the Mountaineers and went on to lose 83-72.
Sprouse led the team in scoring with 18 points, going 6 for 12 from behind the arc. Stephens added 12 points, plus a team high 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
The Eagles shot the ball efficiently, shooting 47 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the field, but were unable to slow down the Mountaineers.
This was Rogers’ last game in an Eagles uniform. He was emotional postgame because he wanted to win more for the American fans.
“As you can see, I tried to give it my all tonight. I feel like I still had a lot left in my heart for these guys,” Rogers said. “Y’all don’t know what goes into this process of being a college basketball player. It’s really hard. Every day you got to go to class, practice and then it’s just repeat, repeat. For me to go out like that, unfortunately I wish I could have done more for us, for the AU community because they deserve an NCAA win. I fell short today.”
Sprouse, who will be a senior next season, reflected on learning how to step up as a leader by learning from the veterans around him.
“The seniors put a good foundation basically for this entire year. I’ve been with this group for the past three years. We’ve been so close on and off the court,” Sprouse said. “They basically paved the way for myself and the guys on the team and the freshman coming in next year. It’s all credit to them really.”
Though Rogers is out of NCAA eligibility, he said that he’s still not done with basketball despite his college career ending on an injury.
“It’s just hard because I gave a lot to this sport. You hate to see your body go out like that,” Rogers said. “But I’m not done by any means. It’s just a little roadblock. But we’ll fight through it.”
The Eagles hoped to have accomplished more in the tournament, but they have climbed mountains this season.
The team battled injuries and still won their first Patriot League Championship in 11 years. They tied a program record for conference wins in a season with 13. In his second year as head coach, Duane Simpkins led his team to the NCAA Tournament. Rogers solidified his legacy as an Eagles legend, hitting over 1,000 career points, being selected as an All Patriot League First Team Selection and winning Patriot League Championship MVP.
Simpkins shared how grateful he was to coach this team. Though they are losing three graduate students in Rogers, Smalls and guard Lincoln Ball, he’s determined to come back strong, especially with the incoming freshman class.
“This is really a dream. And to do it with these guys, I get choked up every single time I think about these guys and what they’ve done for me personally as a coach. They’ve made me a better coach,” Simpkins said through tears. “We’ll be back.”
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella and Emma Brown.
