Despite leading most of the game, the AU men’s basketball team lost to George Mason University 63-60 after a late rally in the season’s opener on Nov. 8.
“You want everyone to be aggressive offensively and I thought everyone was doing that tonight,” head coach Mike Brennan said, who was coaching his first game as the head coach.
The Eagles (0-1, 0-0 PL) came out sharp early in the first half against GMU, getting out to a 15-point lead at the 13:24 minute mark. The lead was the direct result of aggressive defensive play that forced highly contested shots by the Patriots (1-0, 0-0 A10), stellar game management by starting junior point guard Darius Gardner and superb perimeter play with AU hitting four early three-pointers.
“In a game like this you have be really good to beat a team like that,” Brennan said.
AU’s lead slowly diminished towards the end of the first half. The Eagles had no solution for 6’8 GMU sophomore forward Marko Gujanicic, who went 4-4 in field goal shooting, while also collecting three rebounds and a steal.
With only 23 seconds left in the first half, the Patriots gained their first lead of the game with a free throw by senior guard Sherrod Wright putting the Patriots up 38-37 at halftime.
Eagle first half standouts included junior forward Kyle Kager who went 2-3 shooting with five rebounds and Jesse Reed who was 4-5 shooting, including three three-pointers and two steals.
“In the second half we gave up some offensive rebounds and turned the ball over more,” said coach Brennan. “We have be better, we’ve got to control the things we can control.”
Both teams played sloppy in the second half as the Eagles saw their field goal percentage decrease from 54 percent in the first half to 36 percent in the second half while the Patriots’ decreased from 46 percent to 37 percent.
Both teams three-point games in the second half were non-existent, with AU completing only three of their 16 attempts and GMU missing all three of their attempts from behind the arc.
Nevertheless the game stayed close throughout the second half, and a three-pointer by sophomore forward Marco Vasic lifted the Eagles to a six-point lead with less than five minutes remaining.
“I just told our guys that were getting good shots, let’s keep it up,” Brennan said. “But (GMU) turned up the pressure a little bit and we let it affect us.”
The Patriots would then go on an 11-point run, characterized by poor ball-handling by AU and quick fast breaks by GMU.
Eagles’ senior center Tony Wroblicky, who went 4-5 shooting with five blocks, was a key part of an Eagle offense which scored 24 points in the paint.
“[Wroblicky] is a veteran player,” Brennan said. “He’s been playing basketball his whole life and it shows. He made some big time plays tonight, finishing strong at the rim.”
AU’s next matchup will be its home opener against the University of Maryland at Baltimore County Nov. 14 at Bender Arena.
