Eagles Seek to Even PL Record when Army Invades on Wednesday

Jan. 17, 2006

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THE STORYLINE: The American University men's basketball team will look to even its Patriot League record at two wins and two losses when the United States Military Academy visits Bender Arena on Wednesday evening. The Eagles have won every meeting (9-0) with the Black Knights since joining the Patriot League in 2001, and have only lost once in 10 total meetings with Army. American's momentum is on the upswing, after defeating Colgate on the road on Saturday for its first Patriot League win of the season and just its second road win of the year. Army is in the midst of a six-game losing streak, the last three of which have been Patriot League games. The Black Knights last game was a heartbreaker in which hosts Lehigh came away with a 63-60 win. Since joining the PL, the closest Army has come to defeating American was six points, in a 54-48 AU victory at Army on Feb. 26, 2004. Army's only win in the series came in the two teams' first and only non-PL meeting, on Dec. 23, 1963, when the Black Knights won handily, 100-70.

LAST TIME OUT: The American University men's basketball team raced out to an 18-point halftime lead and played solid basketball in the second stanza to defeat Colgate Saturday, 74-66, at Cotterell Court. The Eagles took it to Colgate early, opening the game on a 14-6 run in the first 6:33. Up nine points with 7:59 left in the second stanza, American went on a 7-0 run, with a pair of Paulius Joneliunas free throws and a Travis Lay sandwiched around an Arvydas Eitutavicius three-pointer. The teams traded points until a Brian Gilmore jumper closed out the half for the Eagles, putting them up by a 37-19 score. In the second period, Colgate slowly whittled AU's lead down to single digits with less than five minutes remaining, mostly by hitting three-pointers. The hosts hit nine-of-17 treys in the second stanza. However, AU hit 14-of-17 free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Eitutavicius led the Eagles with 20 points, including three three-pointers. Joneliunas added a career-high 12 points, hitting three-of-four shots and going six-of-eight from the line, while Andre Ingram added 15 points. Overall, the Eagles held Colgate to just 39.7 percent shooting, compared to 44.4 percent for the Eagles. The Raiders, who fall to 7-10 overall, 1-2 in the PL, were led by Kendall Chones, who had 14 points but shot just four-of-14.

ON THE SIDELINE: Head Coach Jeff Jones is in his sixth season at the helm of the Eagles program. He boasts a 80-82 (.494) overall record at AU, but his record over the past four seasons was 68-51 (.571). Jones is the first coach at AU since Eagles Hall-of-Famer David Carrasco to put together four consecutive winning seasons. Carrasco went 23-5, 22-7, 21-7 and 15-7 from 1957 to 1961. The four straight winning seasons are the most for AU since the 1974-75 team concluded five straight winning tilts.

RECORD VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: American University possesses a 93-90 (.505) overall record versus teams from the Patriot League (See chart below).

Army	        9-1
Bucknell	17-20
Colgate	        8-3
Holy Cross	3-8
Lafayette	14-16
Lehigh	        14-9
Navy	        28-33
Total	        93-90 (.508)

A FIRST: American's win over Colgate was not only its first Patriot League win of the season, it was the first time this season AU won when being outrebounded by its opponent. The Eagles amassed 33 boards, three short of Colgate's total, but AU's 30-of-41 performance from the free throw line helped AU overcome the Raiders.

CONTINUING A TREND: American's win over Colgate continued a trend of winning while scoring between 70-79 points (the Eagles dropped 74). AU is now 3-0 when scoring between 70-79 this season, and 4-1 when scoring more than 70 points. AU's only loss when scoring more than 70 this season came in the first game of the season, when AU lost at the University of Washington, 99-82. Conversely, the Eagles are 0-7 when scoring 59 or fewer points.

MR. CONSISTENCY: Freshman Derrick Mercer is one of only two players (junior Andre Ingram is the other player) on the Eagles to start every game this season. He is the only player to start every game at the same position; Ingram has switched between the three and the two spots.

BREAKOUT GAME?: Everyone expected big things from 6-11, 240 lbs. transfer Paulius Joneliunas when he became eligible for the Maryland game on Dec. 23. However, the big guy had a slow start to his career at American, averaging just 2.8 ppg and 3.0 rpg after his first six games with the Eagles. However, versus Colgate, Joneliunas exploded for 12 points and six rebounds and went three-of-four from the field and six-of-eight from the line, all career-highs. Joneliunas also played a career-high 23 minutes.

TALLSOME TWOSOME: Recently, people around the Patriot League have noticed the size of the Eagles starting frontcourt. With Paulius Joneliunas featured in the frontcourt, the Eagles are quite imposing. The Vilnius, Lithuania native has started the last six games for the Eagles alongside 6-10 Brayden Billbe, giving AU the largest frontcourt in the Patriot League.

MERCER, CARR NEARING MILESTONES: Freshman point guard Derrick Mercer and freshman guard Garrison Carr are both nearing 100 points in their careers. Mercer needs just eight points to reach the milestone and Carr needs just six points to reach triple-digits in their short careers.

EITUTAVICIUS TOPS IN THE PL IN FREE THROWS: Junior guard Arvydas Eitutavicius leads the Patriot League in free throw percentage, hitting 48-of-53 total attempts (.906). Eitutavicius has hit 20 of his last 22 attempts (.909).

TWO EAGLES NEARING AU TOP-10 IN BLOCKS: Both junior forward Brayden Billbe and freshman forward Jordan Nichols are nearing AU's top-10 all-time in single-season blocks. Billbe is ranked third in the Patriot League in blocks with 19 (1.19/game) and Nichols is ranked fourth with 18 (1.12/game).

FOUL TROUBLE: Junior forward Brayden Billbe has struggled this season with staying out of foul trouble. The Colgate game was a good illustration, where Billbe was limited to just 11 minutes because of four quick fouls. Billbe has fouled out of three games thus far, and has had at least three fouls in 12 of 16 games this season.