Posted March 7, 2005.
Senior Jason Thomas scored just one point in his final college game as AU lost 53-35 to Bucknell in the second round of the Patriot League tournament. Thomas went 0-for-6 from the three-point stripe, while fellow senior Matej Cresnik led the team with 12 points.
The tournament loss ends AU's season, and ends the careers of Thomas and Cresnik, as well as Patrick Okpwae, Ryan Graham and Raimondas Petrauskas.
Despite struggling to score all game, AU trailed by only two at halftime, 18-16. However, the Bison pulled away in the second half as Chris McNaughton scored nine of his game-high 11 points.
Bucknell moves on to challenge Holy Cross for the Patriot League title. The game will take place Friday at 2 p.m. at Holy Cross. It will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
AU made it to the second round by defeating Navy 85-83 in overtime. Cresnik led the team with a career-high 30 points, 20 of which came in the first half.
Sophomore Linas Lekavicius, who missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have put AU up by four with 42 seconds left in OT, drove the length of the court with five seconds left to score a tiebreaking layup. Midshipman David Hooper missed a desperation shot as time ran out on Navy.
The Eagles end the season with a record of 16-12, giving them their fourth straight winning season. This year's crop of graduating seniors is AU's first in 30 years to graduate with only winning seasons under their belt.
