Nov. 30, 2006

Box Score

WASHINGTON, DC - American University threw haymakers at the start of each half of Wednesday's basketball game with New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Highlanders more than stood up to the first-half flurry, but American's second-half punch was too much and the Eagles finally kayoed the game Highlanders, 75-50.

American, which opened the game with an 11-2 spurt, only to see the Highlanders come back and eventually take the lead, opened the second half, 8-0, extending a 36-32 halftime advantage and wound up outscoring the visitors, 39-18, over the last 20 minutes.

Senior guard Arvydas Eitutavicius came off the bench for a game-high 20 points, netting 10 points in each half for American, now 5-2 on the season. He was one of four double-figure scorers and two of the others, like Eitutavicius, are Lithuanian nationals. Linus Lekavicius added 16 points, while Paulius Joneliunas finished with 12 points.

In addition to the three Lithuanians, American's sophomore point guard, Derrick Mercer, was brilliant, scoring 13 points, making 4 steals and passing for 7 assists without a turnover in 36 minutes.

NJIT got a season-best 16 points from freshman guard Andrew Engel, who made 6 of 7 shots from the field, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. A resident of Millersville, Maryland, not far from Washington, he was playing his first college game near his hometown.

The only other double-figure scorer for the Highlanders was sophomore guard Alex Stone, who contributed 10 points off the bench.

Nesho Milosevic was the top rebounder for NJIT, pulling down 6 boards. Senior Clayton Barker led the Highlanders with 3 assists and matched American's Mercer for game honors in steals, taking the ball from the Eagles four times.

American led at the half, 36-32, paced by Eitutavicius' 10 points off the bench. Following Eitutavicius in the scoring for American were his countrymen Lekavicius and Joneliunas, with 8 and 6 points, respectively.

The Highlanders were led at the half by Engel and freshman classmate Dan Stonkus, with 8 points apiece. Stone gave NJIT a lift off the bench, with 6 points in 4 minutes.

American came out strong to start the second half, stretching the four-point halftime lead to 12 on an 8-0 spurt in the first 3:33, before Stone broke the ice for NJIT.

American would lead by double-figures for the rest of the game, but like a fighter who has been stung, but is still fighting back, the Highlanders stayed in contention well into the second half.

At the 12-minute mark, Engel drained a three-pointer, closing NJIT to within 11 points, 51-40.

The Highlanders, who continued to battle, succumbed when they could not overcome offensive struggles that saw them manage just 10 points over the final 12 minutes.

American, meanwhile, continued its scoring pace over the full 40 minutes and pulled away from NJIT, with 24 points over the same closing stretch in which the Highlanders managed just 10 points.

A plus on the defensive end for NJIT was the fact that it held American's Andre Ingram scoreless. The senior guard came in averaging a team-best 14.7 points per game.

The Highlanders will wrap up their demanding week with their third game in five days, when they host Maine on Friday at 7 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.