Dec 29, 2008
AU Men's Basketball Holds on for 60-48 Win At Manhattan
Dec. 29, 2008
WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team jumped out to a big first half lead and withstood a second half surge to claim a 60-48 win over Manhattan Monday night in Riverdale, N.Y. AU was led by Garrison Carr who scored a game-high 21 points and Brian Gilmore who netted 17.
American (6-6) forced three turnovers and made the most of their transition offense opportunities to sprint out to a 12-3 lead with less than five minutes run off the clock. Derrick Mercer started the scoring by forcing a turnover and finishing himself at the other end and was followed by seven straight points from Brian Gilmore. Gilmore hit a three with the shot clock winding down for his first bucket of the night and then slammed down two dunks in transition to give the Eagles a 9-3 lead. Garrison Carr capped off AU's run with a three from the corner to move the score to 12-3. Carr later hit consecutive three-pointers to put AU ahead by 14, 22-8, with 11:43 remaining.
The Eagles continued to push the pace on Manhattan and used an 8-0 run to open their largest lead of the half, 30-12, with 4:05 to play. Mercer again began the scoring with four straight points in the paint. Bryce Simon then hit a 10 foot jumper from the right side of the lane and found a cutting Jordan Nichols on the team's next trip down the court for an easy backdoor layin to finish off the run. Manhattan ended the half with an 8-2 run of their own but the Eagles still took a 12 point lead, 32-20, into the locker room at the break.
AU's pressure defense limited the Jaspers to just 21.9 percent (7-32) shooting in the first half and forced seven turnovers. In comparison, the Eagles shot 52.0 percent (13-25) from the floor and scored 11 points off turnovers and seven on the fast break.
The Jaspers scored the first five points of the second half but American answered right back with a Carr three and a converted three-point play from Frank Borden to retake a 13 point lead, 38-25, with 16:37 to play. After Borden's bucket Manhattan fought its way back into the game, embarking on an 11-3 run to pull within six, 47-41. Gilmore ended the Jaspers comeback with his second three of the half to regain a nine point advantage, 50-41, and with 8:06 on the clock Carr hit a pull-up jumper to regain a double digit lead for the Eagles, 52-41. With just over two minutes to play AU remained in the lead, 54-43, and put the game out of reach with four free-throws from Carr down the stretch to take the game by the final score of 60-48.
Carr led all scorers with 21 points including five three-points. Gilmore tallied 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-3 shooting from behind the arc, and grabbed eight rebounds. Nichols led all players on the boards with 10 rebounds and Mercer dished out a game-high four assists.
The Eagles will return to action after the New Year as they host Brown on Friday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
