| The American University 2008-09 |
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The American Eagles used strong defense and timely offense to reach the top
of the Patriot League in 2009, and came out with the same formula in the biggest
game of the year to knock off Holy Cross, 73-57, and claim their second
consecutive Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on Friday at Bender
Arena.
The Eagles advance to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament for the
second year in a row. They will learn their first-round opponent and destination
when the brackets are announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBS and CBSSports.com.
American pulled away at the end of the first half and beginning of the second
half, building a 20-point lead and carrying a double-digit advantage the rest of
the way. The Eagles got 24 points from Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable
Player
Garrison Carr (5'11''-G), who became the second player in League history to
claim the award for two consecutive seasons.
'It's a different feeling from last year,' said American Head Coach
Jeff Jones
. 'It's hard to compare this year's Championship to last year. There was a lot
more pressure last year.'
Carr made 9-of-12 shots from the field, and 6-of-8 from three-point range. He
finished with a Tournament record-tying 13 three-point field goals and also set
a Tournament mark with 28 three-point attempts.
'It's been a good year for Garrison in a lot of ways, but it's been a tough year
in a lot of ways,' Jones said. 'He had probably his best practice all season
this week. I'm not surprised that he came out and responded the way he did.'
The Eagles limited Holy Cross to 32.2 percent shooting from the floor, allowing
the Crusaders to shoot just 4-for-22 in the first half. The Crusaders were just
5-of-16 from three-point range. American forced 15 Holy Cross turnovers.
American also shot over 50 percent in the contest, and scored 45 second-half
points behind a 12-for-17 shooting effort after the break. American connected on
8-of-17 three-point shots, with Carr leading the way in that category.
'I thought there were two good defensive teams out there tonight,' Jones said.
'As good as we played on defense, they matched it.'
Defense ruled early in the first half, as the lead changed hands five times as
the Crusaders opened a slim 9-8 advantage at the second media timeout.
American put up the game's first significant run after that point, scoring nine
straight points for a 17-9 lead. Carr tallied five points in the stretch, with a
jumper with 10:12 to go followed by a three-pointer with 9:28 left.
Brian
Gilmore (6'8''-F) punctuated the run with a one-handed dunk with 7:16 to go,
but was called for a technical on the way down the floor to allow the Crusaders
to end the 9-0 surge with a pair of free throws.
Holy Cross got the deficit to 17-13 on its ensuing possession, but a
three-pointer by Nick Hendra with 6:36 left in the first half pushed the
American lead back to seven. After a Holy Cross free throw, another Carr
three-pointer gave the Eagles a 23-14 lead with 5:55 left. A pair of foul shots
by Hendra pushed the advantage to 25-14 with 4:55 to go, and capped the 17-5
surge. American answered four straight Holy Cross points with a
Bryce
Simon (6'6''-F) three-pointer for a 28-18 lead at the break.
American made everything difficult for Holy Cross on the offensive end in the
first half, limiting the Crusaders to 18 points by forcing turnovers and tough
shots. Holy Cross shot just 4-for-22 (18.5 percent) in the first half, and was
just 1-of-6 from three-point land.
American came out on fire to extend the lead quickly in the second half. The
Eagles opened with a 7-2 run to force a Holy Cross timeout when Carr drained
another three to make it 35-20 with 17:58 left in the game.
Carr remained hot in the next two minutes, nailing back-to-back threes to push
the American lead to 43-25 with 15:41 to go in the contest.
American scored the next two points to raise the lead to 20, but Holy Cross
began to chip away.
Pat
Doherty (5'11''-G) nailed a three to cut the Eagle advantage to 45-32 with
12:30 remaining in the contest, and a layup by
R.J.
Evans (6'3''-G) capped a 9-1 run and cut the deficit down to 46-34 with
11:39 to go.
The Eagles bounced back to increase the lead to 17. After taking a 50-36
advantage, Gilmore converted a three-point play with 9:59 left to give American
a 53-36 lead.
Holy Cross scored the next six points to get as close as it had been since the
opening of the second half, with a pair of Andrew Beinert foul shots making it
53-42 with 8:20 left. The Eagles again answered, with Carr nailing yet another
three to push the advantage to 57-43 and force a Holy Cross timeout with 5:37 to
go.
Doherty answered with a three to get it back to an 11-point game, but the Eagles
pushed the lead to 16 on back-to-back layups by
Derrick Mercer (5'9''-G) of The American University to make it 62-46 with
3:45 to go. The Eagles held a double-digit lead the rest of the way to go on to
the 73-57 victory and claim their second straight Patriot League Championship.
Gilmore and Mercer joined Carr in double figures scoring. Gilmore tallied 18
points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Mercer, the Patriot League Player of the Year,
had 13 points and a team-high five assists.
Holy Cross had three players score in double figures, with
Eric
Meister (6'8''-F) tallying a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
R.J.
Evans led the way in scoring with 16 points, while
Pat
Doherty tallied 13. The Crusaders held a 39-33 advantage on the boards.
Gilmore, Mercer, Evans and Meister all made the Patriot League All-Tournament
team, where they were joined by Army's
Cleveland Richard (6'3''-G). Gilmore earned All-Tournament honors for the
second year in a row.
'In the Tournament, I think Brian (Gilmore) has given us some energy,' Jones
said. 'He's one guy who can give us a spark because he gets out and runs.'
The Eagles played as a No. 15 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, as they fell
to No. 2 Tennessee, 72-57, in a first-round contest in Birmingham, Alabama.
American trailed by just one point with six minutes remaining in that game.
Courtesy of Patriot League
Tournament Final: American - Holy Cross 73-57
Tournament Semifinals:
American - Army 61-60
Holy Cross - Colgate 61-44
Patriot League All-Tournament MVP:
Garrison Carr of American
Patriot League All-Tournament Team
Cleveland Richard of Army
R.J.
Evans of Holy Cross
Eric
Meister of Holy Cross
Brian
Gilmore of American
Derrick Mercer of American
| All-Patriot League 1st Team 2008-09 |
Mercer |
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Carr |
|
Hall |
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Kina |
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Keister |
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All-Patriot League 1st Team
Garrison Carr of American
Marquis Hall (5'11''-G) of Lehigh
Andrew Keister (6'9''-F) of Holy Cross
Kaleo
Kina (6'4''-G-87) of Navy
Derrick Mercer of American
All-Patriot League 2nd Team
Patrick Behan (6'8''-F-87) of Bucknell
Zahir
Carrington (6'7''-F) of Lehigh
Brian
Gilmore of American
Chris
Harris (6'2''-G-86) of Navy
Cleveland Richard of Army
Patriot League All-Rookie Team
Bryan
Cohen (6'5''-G-89) of Bucknell
R.J.
Evans of Holy Cross
Yaw
Gyawu (6'5''-F) of Colgate
Julian Simmons (6'0''-G) of Army
Ryan
Willen (6'8''-F) of Lafayette
Patriot League Player of the Year:
Derrick Mercer of American
Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year:
Marcus Nelson (5'11''-G) of Army
Patriot League Rookie of the Year:
R.J.
Evans of Holy Cross
Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
Marquis Hall of Lehigh
Patriot League Coach of the Year:
Jeff Jones
of American
Jones
