WASHINGTON, D.C (1/19/08) – Garrison Carr scored a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead American University to a 65-57 Patriot League win over Colgate Saturday at Bender Arena.
American improves to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in the league, while Colgate falls to 9-8 overall and 1-2 in the league. The Raiders are winless on the road in eight games at Bender Arena.
Colgate was led by senior Kendall
Chones (Cleveland, OH), who had the third double-double of his career, with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Kyle Roemer (Martinez, CA) added nine points and
Daniel Waddy (Tucson, AZ) had seven points and a career-high nine rebounds.
Derrick Mercer tallied 13 points for the Eagles, including four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the victory. Travis Lay and Jordan Nichols had six rebounds apiece for the home team.
American was on fire in the opening stages of the game making six of their first seven 3-point attempt to open a 20-6 lead. Carr had four 3-pointers while Bryce Simon nailed a pair for the Eagles.
Colgate was able to cut the deficit in half, 24-17, with 8:02 left when Chones score an old-fashion three-point play. Mercer hit a 3-pointer and Steve Luptak scored on a jumper to push the lead back to 12 points, before the Eagles extended the advantage to 15 points, 36-21, with 5:19 remaining. AU led at halftime, 42-28.
In the second half, Colgate scored the first six points to cut the deficit to eight points, while American didn’t score for the first 5:17 of the second half. After falling behind by 15 points, Colgate staged a rally that saw the Raiders trail 59-57 with 59 seconds remaining on Roemer’s 3-pointer.
On the ensuing possession by AU, Lay missed a layup but Nichols grabbed the offensive rebounds, and put it back in to give the Eagles a 61-57 with 31 seconds left. With 22 seconds left, Roemer was called for an offensive foul, and Mercer made the first two of his four straight free throws to seal the victory.
Colgate shot 36 percent from the field, while American finished with 42 percent including 47 from the 3-point arc (8-of-17). The Raiders were 16-of-20 from the charity stripe, while AU made 25-of-34. Colgate out-rebounded the home team, 30-27.
Colgate will be back in action on Wednesday night, when the Raiders travel to Lehigh University.
