The American University men’s basketball team (16-15) fell to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (15-16) on Feb. 25, 73-78 and to the Boston University Terriers (15-16) by a score of 68-65 at Bender Arena on Feb. 28. The Eagles, who came into the weekend as the third seed, dropped down to the fifth seed in the Patriot League.
Despite the Eagles holding on to a top-two seed for a large portion of the season, a five-game losing streak started on Jan. 28 against Loyola Maryland and stretched till Feb. 11 against Lehigh, including two losses at the buzzer, interfered with American’s momentum. Despite heading into the game riding a three-game win streak, the Eagles looked to secure the rights to host a playoff game with a win against Lehigh.
Heading into the match, American dominated Lehigh in the metrics, sitting fourth in league offense and second in defense. However, with there being a lot of parity within the Patriot League this season and several bright spots and moments from each team, any game in the league is up for the taking.
At the start of the match, Eagles junior forward Matt Mayock won the tip and immediately went on a 7-4 run on his own, scoring two easy layups and a deep contested 3-pointer from the wing. Senior guard Geoff Sprouse, junior forward Greg Jones and freshman guard Kade Sebastian added to the fun, hitting 3-pointers of their own to take a comfortable 18-12 lead with 10:12 left in the first half.
After an efficient offensive start for the Eagles, Lehigh rallied and went on an offensive tear, particularly in the paint. After taking the lead and forcing an American turnover, Lehigh hit a 3-pointer to give it a 26-21 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the half.
Trying to regain the momentum for the second half, freshman guard Madden Collins hit a turnaround midrange jumper at the buzzer to cut the Lehigh lead to 33-30 at halftime. The Mountain Hawks’ first-half scoring run allowed them to lead for the rest of the game.
Despite Jones having a solid offensive second-half, American plagued itself with foul calls. The officials seemed trigger-happy with the whistle, and even before the first official timeout at 16:07, there were 12 total foul calls, seven of them credited to the Eagles. Lehigh found themselves in the bonus early and were shooting a lot of free throws that helped protect their 48-36 lead.
After that first timeout, Jones took over, starting with a tip-in basket and a fancy spinning layup to cut the lead back into single digits with 12:38 left.
Jones made three sets of free throws, a nice layup and a wing 3-pointer. He single-handedly carried the Eagles and helped them come into striking distance, trailing 61-55 with just over five minutes left in the match.
After Mayock got a steal and took it all the way for a layup, Lehigh was forced to call a timeout and make adjustments as the Bender faithful, desperate to see playoff March basketball on their home court, erupted with energy. The Eagles trailed 61-57 with just over four minutes remaining.
With the comeback in sight, all of the Eagles’ fouls caught up to them, forcing their key contributors Jones, Mayock and Collins to foul out of the match.
Though sophomore guard Wyatt Nausadis hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the game to bring them within 3 points, it was not enough. Lehigh went on to win 78-73.
With American’s key center rotation, sophomore forward Eric Michaels and freshman forward Carson McDonald all injured, the Eagles — who simply lacked length, rather than being a poor defensive team — gave up 34 points in the paint.
“Their guy’s bigger than us,” Eagles head coach Duane Simpkins said, laughing. “Their kids are 6’ 9 to 6’ 10, our guys are 6’ 5 to 6’ 6.”
Jones led the Eagles in scoring and rebounds with 23 and 8, respectively. Mayock added 15 points.
While Simpkins was pleased with Jones’ offensive takeover, he said the team needs more of his offensive pieces to step up.
With the prospect of hosting a playoff game becoming less likely as the day went on, Simpkins said the team was not worried about walking into a hostile away arena and was continuing to focus on the goal they set for themselves at the beginning of the season: winning a championship.
“Not going to do anything different than we already do,” Simpkins said. “We’ve been pretty good on the road in Patriot League play.”
Going into the final game of the regular season, the Eagles had one objective: win. Standing in their way were the Terriers, who were looking to secure home-field advantage in the quarterfinals themselves. To put it simply, the winner of this game would host the loser in the quarterfinal.
Last time these two played, it was American who got the victory in Boston, winning 64-62. However, the Terriers entered Bender Arena with confidence, having won six of their last seven games.
Before the game, seniors Noah Jones, Adrian Samuels and Sprouse were honored as part of the team’s senior day celebrations.
Simpkins made one change to his starting lineup after the game versus Lehigh, inserting Nausadis back into the lineup in place of Jones. He made his impact on the game immediately, pushing his way into the paint to score a contested layup. A few possessions later, Nausadis drove into the paint once more, finding Mayock open in the right corner who drained a 3-pointer.
But it would be the Terriers who got the ball rolling first. In a dominating six-minute stretch, the Terriers outscored the Eagles 12-to-1, the highlight being junior guard Michael McNair’s 4-point play beyond the arc on the left wing. A media timeout was called with 11:21 left in the half, with Boston leading 20-6. American was shooting a less than desirable 2-for-12 from the field and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
The Eagles began to find their rhythm after the break, with Sebastian hitting a much needed 3-pointer from the right wing. McNair responded with a successful shot beyond the arc of his own, which was then followed up by a deep 3-pointer by Iturbe. He continued his run of form, pushing his way into the paint and scoring a contested layup over the 7-foot sophomore forward Ben Defty.
Despite being down as much as 22 in the first half, American showed no quit. Sebastian drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired, and the Eagles entered the half down 38-23. The Eagles shot the ball well to end the half, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc after their rough start.
American had a steep deficit to overcome, but Simpkins kept his faith in his team.
“I told our guys my expectation is when we come out in the second half, I should be able to look out there and believe that we’re up 15 points,” Simpkins said. “It starts with our mentality and body language first, and I thought if we did that, we’d give ourselves a chance.”
To start the second half, the Eagles looked and played like a rejuvenated, well-oiled machine. Two possessions in, Mayock began the scoring with a shifty reverse layup. On the next possession, Mayock intercepted Hughes’ pass, passed it to Jones Jr., who then found Sprouse in the corner for a massive 3-pointer, forcing an early Terrier timeout. The Bender fans erupted while “Miserlou” by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones pumped through the stadium during the break.
Iturbe continued to will the Eagles back into the game with a successful catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the top of the arc, assisted by Sprouse. On the next possession, Sprouse put his name on the scoresheet again, hitting a 3-pointer from the right wing, slashing the deficit to 8.
On the Terriers’ next two possessions, Iturbe locked up Defty in the paint both times. Following his second stop, Iturbe’s pass found Nausadis, drawing contact in the paint, forcing a foul and a media timeout with 11:52 to go. After the break, Nausadis hit both free-throw attempts to cut the deficit to 6.
A few possessions later, Sebastian pick-pocketed McNair, finding a wide open Mayock who finished the two-hand jam. If Bender was already loud, nothing compared to the pop heard after the dunk.
With over seven minutes to go, Iturbe was down on the court holding his head in pain as Gladden converted a wide-open layup. Despite seeming to be in a lot of pain, Iturbe remained on the court after the timeout. Simpkins praised his sophomore standout after the game.
“You got to battle the 7-footer and do it without fouling, and he did,” Simpkins said.
With under four minutes to go, Sprouse snatched the ball from Defty and found Sebastian in the corner for a huge 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 1. On the next possession, Sebastian charged down the court and converted a go-ahead contested layup. At 38 minutes into the game, American led for the first time, 65-64. That lead only lasted 20 seconds, as Gladden converted his one layup on the next possession.
Up by 2 with under a minute to go, Defty charged the paint and drew contact, drawing a foul with 20 seconds left on the clock. His second free-throw attempt was no good, and the Eagles had one chance at tying the game.
Nausadis’ pass found Iturbe inside the arc. His stepback contested 3-point attempt sailed just right of the basket, and the thriller came to an end with Boston victorious, 68-65.
Even though the comeback fell short, American truly looked like a different team in the second half. Their 26.7 percent shooting from the field in the first half was outdone by a 44.8 percent efficiency from the field, outscoring the Terriers 42-30.
The Eagles started the home stretch as holders of the Patriot League’s third seed. After dropping the last two games, they fell to fifth, losing their quarterfinal home court advantage. American will head up to Boston to face the Terriers in a 4 vs. 5 seed matchup in the quarterfinal on March 5, marking the third time Boston has hosted the Eagles in the Patriot League playoffs.
“Obviously you want to be home, but we went up there and we won. We won a lot on the road this year,” Simpkins said. “I can’t tell you why, but the good thing is I will take solace in knowing that we do know how to do it.”
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Ryan Sieve, Mattie Lupo and Nicole Kariuki.
