The formula of Jason Thomas scoring a career-high number of points while leading AU to victory might be getting tiresome for his opponents, but the Eagles will gladly take as many doses as doctors allow.
Before 1,378 boisterous fans at Bender Arena Saturday, the senior forward led the Eagles to their fifth straight win, a 64-55 victory over Ohio, which, despite some sloppy play in the second half, the Eagles thoroughly deserved.
"I think it's big that, no matter how it was accomplished, we were able to beat a good team when we maybe weren't at our sharpest," said head coach Jeff Jones. "And there were a lot of good things to be taken from today."
Thomas' continuing hot streak was likely the best. He had 26 points, tying the career high he set Wednesday against Towson, which broke his previous high of 23, a mark he tied in last weekend's tilt versus Vermont.
On Saturday, Thomas was nine of 12 from the floor, including five of six from beyond the three-point line. Somehow, he was even better than that Wednesday, going eight of nine and five of five, respectively.
Sophomore guard Andre Ingram was the only other Eagle in double figures, scoring 10 points despite going ice cold from three-point range, missing all eight attempts.
"I'm shooting the ball well right now, but that's not always going to be the case," Thomas said. "But I know that's when Andre will step up, or Matej [Cresnik, junior forward] will step up, or Linas [Lekavicius, sophomore guard] will step up."
Despite what might have looked like a one-man show, as a team the Eagles (5-2) were better than Ohio (3-2), which hails from the respected Mid-American Conference. AU shot marginally better (48 percent to Ohio's 47 percent), was far better from the line (79 percent to 33 percent), took better care of the basketball (14 turnovers to 20), and matched the Bobcats' rebounding strength (28 to 29).
"I think American has a good team," said Ohio head coach Tim O'Shea. "We've played some of their opponents. ... American very well could be the best team in [the Patriot League], especially if Thomas plays like that."
Ohio's leading scorer and star player, freshman forward Leon Williams, only played 20 minutes while picking up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half. He finished with seven rebounds, but just four points.
The Eagles twice jumped out to 16-point leads, the latter coming after an Ingram jumper with 17:19 to play that put AU ahead, 40-24, and punctuated a 24-8 AU run that spanned both halves.
But during a 17-4 run that brought the Bobcats within two at 55-53, Ohio held AU scoreless for five minutes. During that stretch, Ingram had several clear looks from the perimeter, but couldn't hit.
"It's kind of frustrating," Ingram said. "But the most important thing is keeping your composure. Just because your shot isn't going down doesn't mean you can't help. There are a lot of other things you can do."
After Ohio guard Mychal Green missed a foul shot that would have capped a three-point play and put the Bobcats within one, Ingram and Thomas responded to secure the victory. Ingram hit both ends of a one-and-one with 1:50 to play before Thomas did the same seconds later. Then an Ingram layup off a transition feed from Lekavicius sealed the game.
The Eagles will have 12 days, usual this time of year, to prepare first for final exams. Then they have the unenviable task of preparing for an intra-beltway affair with Maryland, which currently sits at No. 17 in the coaches' poll and No. 23 in the Associated Press poll, on Dec. 23.
"Quite honestly, whatever pressure there is, is on Maryland," Jones said. "If we lose the game, everybody thought that was what was going to happen. We'll start focusing on them three or four days before the game. Right now in practice we are going to work on AU, and not worry about Maryland or anyone else"
