AU Men's Basketball Wins Third PL Regular Season Championship with 84-72 Win over Lafayette

March 1, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team clinched its third Patriot League Regular Season Championship on Saturday with an 84-72 victory over visiting Lafayette in Bender Arena. The Eagles win, paired with a Navy loss at Colgate, gives AU the outright lead in the conference and the No. 1 seed in the PL Tournament.

"It's a great feeling," said junior guard Derrick Mercer. "This was one of our goals since last spring. But it's not over, we need to prepare ourselves for the tournament."

The Eagles clinched the victory down the stretch by hitting 11 of 14 free throws in the game's final 1:35. Travis Lay, who was honored before the game during a senior night ceremony, hit three free-throws and a layup to help seal the victory and Carr iced the Leopards with two final free throws with 14 seconds remaining on the clock.

AU began the second half with a nine-point lead, 33-24, and extended their margin to as many as 12 points three time in the half's first 2:30. The Eagles lead began to shrink after the 17:29 mark though as AU found itself on the wrong end of a 16-6 run which was capped off by a dunk by Everest Schmidt and tied the game for the first time since the 13:27 mark in the first half, 49-49. AU came back from the run undeterred and scored the games next 15 points to go ahead for good, 64-49. Simon began the run with two three-point baskets and was complemented by five points from Bryan Gilmore.

"We were able to right the ship before we went on that stretch," Head Coach Jeff Jones said. "Then there were some good defensive stops. We played aggressive defense at all five spots. We got after it at that point."

American took its first lead in the game at the 16:59 mark of the first half off the hot hand of Simon, 8-7, who scored each of AU's first eight points. Lafayette came back briefly after that basket to tie the score at 14, but it was all AU from there. American scored the game's next nine points capped off by a Carr three to take a 25-16 lead midway through the period. The Eagles lead grew to double-digits with 3:44 remaining in the half when Mercer connected on a jump shot, 31-21, and reached as many as 12 points on a Jordan Nichols layup at 2:14, 33-21.

Simon led all Eagles-scorers on Saturday with a career-high 19 points. The junior connected on 6-9 shots, including 5-8 from behind the arc, and was good on his only two free-throw attempts.

"It just happened that I got some open looks today," Simon said. "It's a team game, and whoever needs to step up does."

Gilmore and Derrick Mercer each added 16 points to AU's winning effort while Carr scored 13 and Lay put in 11 in his final regular season game at home. Mercer had a game-high seven assists while Gilmore led the team with six rebounds and Jordan Nichols blocked three shots.

Lafayette was led by a pair of 20-point scorers. Bilal Abdullah scored a game-high 23 points and Matt Betley added 21.

AU's victory clinched the Eagles their third PL Regular Season Championship since joining the league prior to the 2001-02 season. Navy, whom AU was tied with atop the PL standings entering Saturday, lost at Colgate, 73-62, giving American the championship outright for its second time.

American will enter the PL Championship as the No. 1 seed and will have home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament which begins this Wednesday, March 5. The Eagles will face eighth seeded Holy Cross in the first round of the tournament with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Bender Arena. Tickets for the PL Tournament are on sale now. To purchase your tickets, call 202-885-TIXX, or click here.

Eagles fans please tune into Comcast SportsNet this evening at 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. to catch an exclusive look at the AU men's basketball team as part of CSN's Sports Night On Campus special.