Thanks to a legendary performance by AU’s Stephen Lumpkins, the Eagles sunk the Navy Midshipmen and advanced to the Patriot League semifinals with a score of 62-60.
Lumpkins finished with a career-high 29 points and tied his career high of 15 rebounds en route to his eighth double-double of the season. Junior Nick Hendra also came up huge with 12 points and seven boards. In his last game with Navy, Chris Harris led the Midshipmen with 20 points in 39 minutes. The Eagles improved to 9-0 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals with the win.
“I told the guys that winning ugly is still winning,” Head Coach Jeff Jones said. “Obviously we kind of limped down the stretch, but we were able to make enough free throws and get enough stops [to win].”
The atmosphere inside Bender Arena was as electric as ever, but play on the court was sloppy early on. Both teams shot less than 30 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes, and only 15 total points were scored in that span. Given the poor shooting, AU’s six offensive rebounds in the first half were pivotal.
“The big key to our success tonight was that we played outstanding defense,” Jones said. “Then we finished those defensive possessions by owning the defensive boards.”
Both teams attacked the rim in the first half, as Danny Munoz had a pair of athletic layups, and Navy junior O.J. Avworo had a nice reverse layup of his own. The momentum shifting play in the first half came with 12:37 remaining, as Lumpkins and Vlad Moldoveanu tipped the ball at least three times in a row before Lumpkins finally finished. The sophomore from California later made a beautiful touch pass to senior Matthew Wilson, who laid it in to give AU a 13-7 lead.
Junior Steve Luptak took a charge on Harris with 6:14 remaining in the half, but Navy returned the favor by immediately drawing a charge on Moldoveanu. Blocks and jump balls were prevalent and those who came to see tournament basketball were not disappointed by the energy in the first half. A late Harris three put a small dent in the AU lead, but the Eagles still went to the locker room up 26-21.
The second half started off with a bang—or, a Lumpkins dunk to be more precise. Navy’s Romeo Garcia and Avworo kept it close with a pair of layups before Hendra took the ball coast to coast and finished with an acrobatic lay in. Harris and sophomore Jordan Sugars each drained a three pointer and things began to heat up.
“It was a great game, [Navy] is a very good team,” Moldoveanu said. “They score a lot of points and their role players are very good also, so it was a tough game for us.”
The story of the game continued to be Lumpkins, who scored 20 points and eight rebounds in the second half alone. Lumpkins had multiple emphatic dunks in the period and a strong put back off his own miss which gave the Eagles a 44-40 lead. AU regained the momentum and Bender Arena went into a frenzy.
Chants of “Steve-en Lump-kins” echoed throughout the arena as another tip in gave the sophomore a new career-high. Four free throws with five minutes remaining extended the AU lead to double-digits, and a trip to the semifinals seemed all but secure.
Slowly but surely, the Midshipmen pulled themselves back into the game. AU had a 59-51 lead with 1:11 left in the game, but a combination of missed free throws and Navy threes cut the lead to one with nine seconds left. Danny Munoz hit one free throw to double the AU lead and Garcia missed a half-court shot.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” Lumpkins said after the game. “But we defended well even though we were missing free throws. A win is a win, and at this time of year you just have to do anything you can to win and move on.”
The Eagles held Navy to 37 percent shooting on the night and held the rebounding advantage 41-28. They also tripled Navy’s second chance points and scored twice as many points in the paint. However, Moldoveanu only made two layups in the game and finished with eight points.
Lehigh, Holy Cross and Lafayette also won Wednesday night to qualify for the semi-finals. Next up for American is a tough road game at top-seeded Lehigh Sunday night.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
