American Tops Black Knights In Double OT

American's first 20 minutes of basketball against Army last night were as grisly as can be imagined. The second 20 minutes were slightly better. Five minutes of overtime were better yet, and by the second overtime the Eagles finally found their stride.

Of course, needing 50 minutes to pull out a 65-63 victory against one of the Patriot League's perennial cellar dwellers was not high on the Eagles' list of season goals. Still, it was a second straight conference victory.

"There's so many things that we have to be better at, that we have to get better at; but at the same time, somehow we found a way to win," American Coach Jeff Jones said.

Opponent notw ithstanding, American (6-11, 2-2 Patriot League) showed plenty of resolve last night. Army had the ball and a three-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation. The Black Knights (4-12, 0-4) had the ball and a three-point lead with less than 30 seconds left in the first overtime.

In regulation, Army's Dan Borcherdt, an 82 percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left. American's Andre Ingram then hit a tough three-pointer with a man in his face to give an announced crowd of 1,421 more basketball than it possibly could have wanted.

In the first overtime, Army turned over the ball with 29.5 seconds left, Ingram hit another three-pointer and Jordan Nichols blocked Corban Bates's short jumper inside. Nichols had a game-high 10 rebounds while 6-foot-11 center Paulius Joneliunas played just seven minutes.

An American team that scored 18 points in the first half managed seven early in the second overtime, with Ingram hitting yet another three-pointer and Linas Lekavicius scoring four of his team-high 15 points.

Both teams then sent three-point attempts and free throws bouncing off Bender Arena's abused rims as the game ended. The Eagles made 1 of 6 free throws in the final 30 seconds, while the Black Knights scored just two baskets in the second overtime.

Ingram had suffered through an awful shooting night before his late onslaught. But the 6-3 guard, who was honored before the game for recently scoring his 1,000th career point, made three of the game's most important shots.

"No matter how bad I'm shooting or how much I'm struggling, my teammates want to give me the ball in that situation and I want the ball in that situation," Ingram said.