American University Coach Jeff Jones knew his players might not be as motivated against Colgate yesterday as they were in knocking off Patriot League leader Bucknell two days ago. He need not have worried. The Eagles followed Friday's impressive win with another strong performance, defeating the Raiders, 78-59, before 1,709 at Bender Arena.
The victory moved American (12-7, 5-2 Patriot League), which has won six of its past seven games, into a second-place tie with Bucknell, which lost to Navy, 66-62.
"We were concerned about a letdown," Jones said. "We were just emphasizing the need, the necessity for us to bring the same kind of energy and aggression to the court. To our guys' credit, we were able to do that."
American had its best shooting performance in 12 games, making 56 percent from the floor. The Eagles did a nice job sharing the load -- 16 of their 29 field goals came off an assist -- and taking smart shots.
"We're moving the ball well," guard Jason Thomas said. "I'm not trying to force anything. We're moving around well. We're cutting well and getting a lot of guys open."
Thomas followed his 18-point game against Bucknell with a 19-point showing against Colgate. The importance of the game didn't dissuade Jones from indefinitely suspending senior forward Patrick Okpwae for missing curfew on Friday night. Okpwae, who averages 8.3 points and 4.2 rebounds, was in uniform but did not play.
Okpwae's absence was an opportunity for Raimondas Petrauskas to shine. Petrauskas missed a career high by two points, finishing with 22 points. After only scoring in double figures twice in his first 11 games, he has scored more than 10 points in six of his last eight. Petrauskas also had seven rebounds. His interior defense was a big reason why American outrebounded Colgate, 39-21.
"We were losing the rebounds, especially offensive rebounds," Petrauskas said. "Now we're trying to do our best to be more physical inside."
American withstood a furious rally by Colgate early in the second half. The Eagles nearly squandered their 41-28 halftime lead, allowing the Raiders to score 11 unanswered points to open the half. Linas Lekavicius ended American's scoring drought by sinking a three-pointer with 15 minutes 57 seconds to play. By the time Petrauskas completed a three-point play three minutes later, the Eagles were ahead 53-44.
• NAVY 66, BUCKNELL 62: In Annapolis, Greg Sprink scored 17 points to lead the Midshipmen (6-14, 2-5 Patriot League), who made 10 of their final 11 free throws.
Navy took the lead for good at 63-62 with 21 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by freshman Corey Johnson. The Midshipmen padded the lead with two more free throws by George O'Garro with 18 seconds left to make it 65-62.
After the Bison's Kevin Bettencourt missed a three-point try, Navy rebounded and with 7.4 seconds left Sprink sank the clinching free throw.
Bettencourt led Bucknell (14-6, 5-2) with 27 points and became the 30th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
