March 11, 2008
Media Information:
- Nancy Yasharoff - (202) 531-0162
- April Raynovich - (202) 531-0160
- Office of Athletic Communications - (202) 885-3079
Broadcast Information:
- ESPN2 (Play-by-Play: Dave O'Brien; Color: Bob Valvano)
- WWRC 1260 AM (Play-by-Play: Mike Vaillancourt; Color: Jeremy Huber) in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area
- Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 127 (Play-by-Play: Frank Santore)
WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team is 40 minutes away from its first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. All that separates the top-seeded Eagles from the 64-team bracket is Colgate, the third seed, whom AU has beaten twice this season during its run to the Patriot League Regular Season title. The game will be played on Friday, March 14 at 4:45 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2.
American (20-11) fended off Holy Cross, 62-60, in the quarterfinals and advanced to the league finals with a convincing 72-60 win over Army at Bender Arena on Sunday. The Eagles got 23 points from junior Garrison Carr, who hit five-of-10 shots from outside the arc and all eight of his free-throw attempts. Nick Hendra had 11 points and Jordan Nichols hit three-of-three shots from the field and four-of-five shots from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points to send the Eagles to their fourth conference championship game in seven years in the PL.
Colgate (18-13) comes to Bender on a six-game winning streak that saw them dismiss Lafayette in the quarterfinals by a 76-74 score, and beat Bucknell, 54-40, in the semifinals. This is the Raiders' longest winning streak since the 1996-97 season and marks the fourth appearance in the PL finals for Colgate as well. The Raiders won the title in 1995 and 1996.
American has had quite the advantage playing Colgate at Bender Arena. The Eagles are 8-0 on their home court and lead the overall series 14-3, including a sweep of this year's series, winning 65-57 in Washington and 68-60 in Hamilton. Overall the Eagles have won seven straight in the series.
In the first meeting this season, Garrison Carr scored a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead American over Colgate. The Raiders were led by Kendall Chones, with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Roemer added nine points and Daniel Waddy had seven points and nine rebounds.
In the second outing, Carr was American's leading scorer with 24 points, including 18 in the second half, as the Eagles rallied for the win. The only other AU player in double figures was Derrick Mercer with 18 points. Colgate was led by Roemer with 20 points and Chones with 10.
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