The AU men’s basketball team lost to Patriot League opponent Colgate University 63-60 on Feb. 8 in Bender Arena, the Eagles’ second straight defeat.
The Eagles (14-9, 10-2 PL) were unable to stop Colgate’s (9-14, 3-9 PL) relentless offense and strong shooting. Trailing by six at half, the Eagles pulled within one point as the time hit one minute, but could not complete the comeback.
“We want to focus on what went well and how we can can improve off that,” senior guard Darius Gardner said.
Head coach Mike Brennan acknowledged Colgate’s strong shooting from behind the three-point line and the Eagles’ inconsistent defense, which led to AU’s second defeat.
The Eagles started the game strong. On the very first drive of the game, sophomore guard Jesse Reed scored a three-pointer after Tony Wroblicky won the tipoff. On the very next drive, junior forward Kyle Kager followed with a three of his own and Gardner later put up a layup to give the Eagles a slight lead. The lead did not last.
Aggressive defense by the Raiders and the Eagles’ slow offensive allowed Colgate to build and expand a comfortable lead. Near the end of the first half, Gardner beat two defenders to score and cut the Eagle deficit to 33-26 going into at half.
The second half seemed like it would be more of the same after Colgate went on a
8-2 run to begin the half. Just when a Raider win was beginning to look inevitable, the AU offense came together and executed some fantastic plays.
Kager slammed down a dunk midway through the second half to ignite the AU offense. The comeback was on as Gardner set himself up for a lay-up to pull the Eagles closer to the Raiders. Schoof and Reed hit three pointers adding momentum to the Eagles lead.
With less than two minutes left and down by only four points, the Eagles played well under pressure. Gardner took the ball down unassisted for two hard-earned points. Schoof was fouled and hit all his free throws to put the team that had been trailing by 13 at one point only a single point away from tying the game.
After Colgate’s Matt McMullen made both his free throws, Gardner hit the rim but missed the basket to tie up the contest from halfcourt, giving Colgate the 63-60 victory.
AU recorded all 60 points using just the starting lineup of Reed, Wroblicky, Gardner, Schoof and Kager. Reed and Schoof led the team with 15 points each. Wroblicky grabbed 11 boards over the course of the game while Gardner contributed with six assists.
With the loss and a win by Boston University, the Eagles are now tied with BU for first place in the Patriot League standings.
The Eagles will take on Lehigh hoping to snap the losing streak Feb.12 in Bender Arena for another conference matchup.
