Sunday, December 10, 2017

Men's Basketball: American 74 Howard 63

Sa'eed Nelson (#0, 21 points) led American with 6 assists

From our friends at AU Athletics...

American Men's Basketball Earns Second Home Win Over Howard, 74-63

The American University men's basketball team claimed its second consecutive home victory of the season on Saturday, topping Howard 74-63.

The Eagles now rise to 3-6 overall while the Bison fall to 1-10.

Junior Larry Motuzis (#5) led all scorers with a season-high 29 points

Freshman Sam Iorio put up his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while junior Larry Motuzis led the team in scoring with a season-high 29 points. Sophomore Sa'eed Nelson contributed another 21 points and junior Matt Cimino added 10 boards.

Matt Cimino (#45, 10 rebounds) led AU with 2 blocks

Howard was led by a pair of double-figure efforts from Charles Williams (18 points) and RJ Cole (15 points.) Zion Cousins contributed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Frosh Sam Iorio (#22) led all players with 11 rebounds

The Eagles shot 42.6 percent from the field and hit a season-best 80.8 percent from the line. They also had their best game of the season on the boards with 43 rebounds.

Freshman forward Nick Macarchuk (#30)

Howard gained a 13-point advantage with 9:29 left in the first half after holding the Eagles to a scoreless four minutes with a 13-0 run. A pair of free throws from Motuzis broke the run, and the Eagles chipped away at Howard for the remainder of the half behind an eight-point effort from Nelson.

Another pair of baskets from the line by Motuzis tied the game at 29-29 with just over a minute in the half, and a layup from Nelson gave the Eagles their first lead since the third minute at 31-29 heading into the break.

AU and Howard battled back-and-forth in the early minutes of the second half before a 9-2 run gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 54-42 with eight minutes left to play.

Although Howard cut that lead down to six, the Eagles maintained their cushion down the stretch to end with a final 11-point advantage.

For the latest on American Men's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter @AU_MBasketball.

AU is back at home on Monday, December 18, with a 7 PM tipoff against Mount St. Mary's.

Tickets to all American basketball games along with season and single-game tickets are now on-sale at the Bender Arena box office or online by clicking here.

Click here for yesterday's box score.