Dec 17, 2008
AU Men's Basketball Falls to GW, 63-50
Dec. 17, 2008
WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team was defeated by cross-town rival George Washington on Wednesday, 63-50, at the Smith Center in Northwest Washington, D.C. Senior Brian Gilmore led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing his second double-double of the season. Sophomore Nick Hendra added 14 points and four assists.
American opened a 10-6 lead five minutes into the game on a Gilmore three and Derrick Mercer lay-in on back-to-back possessions. George Washington kept pace with the Eagles however using the long-ball and took the lead, 12-10, on a Damian Hollis three, GW's fourth of the contest. Mercer tied the score up at 12 on AU's next trip down the court before the Colonials were able to use a 10-4 run to open a six-point lead, 22-16.
AU closed the gap to 22-19 as Hendra was fouled on a layup and converted the free throw for a three-point play. The Eagles however could not get any closer to the leader as GW scored the game's next seven points to take a double-digit lead, 29-19. Gilmore ended the Colonials run with a layup off a feed from Hendra for his tenth point of the half. Gilmore then returned the favor to Hendra, finding him on a back door cut for an easy lay-in with 10 seconds remaining, sending the teams into the half with GW leading by eight, 31-23.
Both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket in the opening moments of the second half until Gilmore connected on a tough layup with just over 15 minutes to play to move the score to 36-27. That basket began a 10-2 run for the Eagles, with all 10 points being scored by Gilmore, as AU pulled to within three points of the Colonials, 38-35, with 13:32 remaining. Gilmore hit a second layup 20 seconds after his first off a steal by Carr and then sank consecutive three's to cap off the run.
GW reopened an eight-point lead, 46-38, with 9:10 to play in the game. Hendra pulled AU to within five with his second three of the half but after two free throws by Rob Diggs the Colonials lead was back to seven, 48-41. With 2:57 remaining George Washington remained in the lead, 52-45, as the team answered each American attempt to close the gap. With the game still in the balance, GW was able to hit seven free throws down the stretch and received a timely fast break layup from Tony Taylor off a turnover to secure the victory, 63-50.
Gilmore led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing his second double-double of the season. Gilmore shot 9-of-15 from the field, 4-of-7 from three and grabbed four offensive rebounds. Hendra added 14 points for the Eagles off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, and dished out a game-high four assists.
The Eagles will be back in action again on Saturday, Dec. 20, at UMBC. Tipoff from Baltimore, Md., is scheduled for 7 p.m.
