After a heartbreaking start to the season, the Men's Basketball team evened its record to 2-2 after an impressive 71-65 victory over St. Francis at Bender Arena on Monday night. The win avenged the Eagles' loss last year at St. Francis.
The Eagles were led by the scoring duo of Andre Ingram and Raimondas Petrauaskas, who combined for 35 points, while Patrick Okpwae and Jason Thomas chipped in with 12 and 10, respectively.
AU jumped out to a quick 15-1 lead on the hot shooting of Ingram, before the Red Flash came back, outscoring the Eagles by 11 points the rest of the first half to cut the lead at the break to 30-27.
"It was indicative of last year [against St. Francis], when we got ahead early and then they made it a game," said Eagles head coach Jeff Jones. "They're a good, physical basketball team, and we're happy to get a win."
St. Francis rallied behind the hot shooting of reserve guard Rahsaan Benton, who scored 22 points, including the first 10 of the game for St. Francis. He and Darshan Luckey (18 points) were the only offense for the Red Flash, which tied the game on the first possession of the second half as Luckey drained a three-pointer as the shot clock expired.
After Luckey's three, the Eagles went on a 7-0 spurt, with jumpers from Okpwae and Ingram and a three-pointer from senior Matej Cresnik, to open up a lead that they would never relinquish.
"We started off quick in the first half, and when they tied it that hurt, but we responded well," said Ingram.
St. Francis tried to come back, but the Eagles staved off its attempts, as Petrauskas scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
"I really ignored [Petrauskas] at halftime when I was upset because he got two quick fouls and couldn't really play in the first half," said Jones. "But we're asking him to score this year, and he's responded very well so far."
Thomas put the game out of reach with back-to-back three pointers that gave AU a 17-point lead with five minutes left. Some hot shooting by the Red Flash at the end of the game made the final score respectable.
AU shot a scorching 55 percent for the game, aided by the high-percentage shots from Petrauskas and Okpwae, who shot a combined 11 of 12. The point guard tandem of Linas Lekavicius and Ryan Graham, who are replacing graduated Andres Rodriguez, combined for six points, seven assists and only three turnovers while limiting St. Francis point guard Garrett Farha to three points.
"By the numbers, the point guards played very well tonight," Jones said.
The win was especially nice for the Eagles because St. Francis came off a win against Patriot League rival and preseason favorite Bucknell last week. It should give AU confidence that it was able to score inside on a team that neutralized BU's big man, Chris McNaughton.
"Honestly, this time of year, you can't judge based on other scores," Jones said. "St. Francis is a good team and we're all trying to find ourselves, but overall, this was a good win for us."
Next up for AU is a huge early season match-up with Vermont, which brings Wooden Award finalist Taylor Coppenrath and noted coach Tom Brennan to Bender Arena on Saturday afternoon for what will be a great test for the young Eagles.
