Eagles Have a Happy Homecoming Against Brown

American 68, Brown 53

It was a rare home appearance by American last night at Bender Arena. Returning from a five-game road trip, the Eagles played just their third home game of the season, and based on their performance, they looked happy to be back in their own gym.

In its 68-53 victory over Brown last night, American was efficient on offense and resilient on defense. The Eagles (7-6) made more than 54 percent of their shots and held the Bears (5-7) to less than 35 percent. After a four-game losing streak, American has won three of its last four.

"To be here in our home arena where we're comfortable and where we practice every day, it's definitely an advantage," senior guard Garrison Carr said. "You come out and you shoot on the rims and you feel the ball just falling naturally because you do it every day here."

Carr sank five three-pointers to finish with 22 points, his fifth 20-point scoring game this season. Derrick Mercer added 11 points and six rebounds. Carr and Mercer are the first pair of 1,000-point scorers to share the court for the Eagles since Tim Fudd and Darryl Franklin teamed up during the 1996 season.

American's performance was much improved over its last outing at Bender. Unlike their previous home game, a 57-52 loss to Mount St. Mary's more than a month ago, the Eagles were proficient on both ends of the court.

"I think we're growing as a team and we're learning our roles," said Jordan Nichols, who finished with 10 points. "Guys were making shots today. . . . I know me personally, I got to shoot a lot of easy baskets today because guys were getting good defensive plays."

Aside from the usual contributions from Carr and Mercer, American received an unexpected boost from freshman forward Stephen Lumpkins. Lumpkins's dunk with 3 minutes 25 seconds remaining in the first half began a 13-2 run by the Eagles that gave them a 33-24 halftime lead. The 6-foot-8 Lumpkins played more minutes in the first half than he had in three of the last four games, scoring six points in nine minutes. He finished with eight points, three blocks and three rebounds.

"He gave us a couple baskets inside, and for us, we don't get a whole lot of those. That was nice," American Coach Jeff Jones said. "We happen to think he's got a chance to be a very good player. We're very high on Stephen Lumpkins. He's just learning the ropes as do so many freshmen."

Adrian Williams, son of Redskins Super Bowl most valuable player Doug Williams, was Brown's hottest player coming into the game. Williams scored a career-high 29 points in the Bears' win at Quinnipiac on Monday, making seven three-pointers. He sank his first two shots from behind the arc but then the 6-1 sophomore guard had his shot blocked by 5-9 Mercer. Williams made only one more three-pointer the rest of the game, finishing with 13 points.

However, it may not have been Mercer's block as much as the unenviable task of trying to guard Carr, American's prolific shooter, that caused Williams to miss shots later in the game. Williams relentlessly chased Carr around the court, which undoubtedly wore him out.

After spending the first two months of the season on the road, American remains at home for its next three games. It plays another Ivy League team, Columbia, on Monday then begins Patriot League play against Lehigh next Saturday and Bucknell on Jan. 14.

Navy Edges Wofford

Chris Harris scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures as the Midshipmen defeated the visiting Terriers, 75-70.

Adam Teague scored 16 points for Navy (10-4), which improved to 7-0 at home this season. O.J. Avworo contributed a career-high 12 points and also dished out eight assists for the Midshipmen, who have won 10 nonconference games in a season for only the third time since joining the Patriot League in 1991-92. Clif Colbert added 11 points and Kaleo Kina chipped in with 10 points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.