Denying threes of Black Knights paves way for Eagles in Patriot League quarterfinals
Disturbing the catch-and-shoot rhythm of Army is the key to handling the Black Knights. No one understands better than American University coach Jeff Jones.
Wednesday in the Patriot League quarterfinals, the Eagles took care of the Black Knights for the third time this season using the same formula. Limiting Army to one three-pointer in its first 15 attempts, AU built a big lead on its way to a 57-40 victory before 1,002 at Bender Arena.
With junior Dan Munoz (11 points, four assists) hitting a trio of three-pointers, American (20-10) advanced to a Saturday semifinal at Lehigh (24-7), a winner Wednesday over Colgate. The third-seeded Eagles split with the second-seeded Mountain Hawks in the regular season.
In beating Army (12-18) for the sixth straight time and third this year by a double-digit margin, American limited Army to 26.3 percent shooting overall, its season low, and 15.4 percent from beyond the arc.
In a 67-55 loss at Bender in January, Army hit 1 of 10 three-point attempts in the first half. In a 74-50 loss at West Point last month, the Black Knights made 3 of 21 from the arc.
“We know their sets and stuff. We know they like to run to the line,” Munoz said. “It was a matter of getting back in transition first, and then getting out to shooters second. We used our athleticism pretty well – Troy [Brewer], Blake [Jolivette] – really getting out to their shooters and contesting every shot.”
When Ella Ellis (13 points, 10 rebounds) broke a long three-point dry spell midway through the second half, it was with a rushed shot that accidentally caromed off glass.
“For such an ugly game, it was beautiful for us,” said AU coach Jeff Jones, who reached 20 wins for the fourth time in the last five years. “It was a really physical game, a lot of contact. I’m not sure I would have wanted to be an official in this one.”
With 14 turnovers and 39.1 percent field goal accuracy, the American offense was hardly a well-oiled machine. The Eagles didn’t have a double-digit scorer until Munoz hit a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left. AU’s top scorer, Charles Hinkle (nine points, nine rebounds) tallied less than half his average (18.8 ppg).
“When a team works as hard to limit Charles’s opportunities as Army did and others will, we gotta have other guys step up,” Jones said.
Among those who produced were freshman John Schoof (six points) and senior Simon McCormack (five points), who hit a combined 4 of 6 shots. Junior Jolivette (eight points, three assists) provided a spark off the bench, along with senior Joe Hill, who added a late three-pointer that wrecked any Army hopes of a comeback.
It was a low-stress night for AU. The Eagles AU took an early lead on three-pointers from Brewer (seven points) and Munoz and never trailed. Holding Army scoreless in an 8:28 span that bridged the halves was critical as AU scored 12 straight points to open up a 29-11 bulge.
Now it is on to Lehigh, where AU lost 70-61 in January. The Eagles will have to contend with Patriot League player of the year C.J. McCollum and the always-difficult task of winning on the road in the conference tournament.
“I think the higher seed should have the advantage. But that’s not an automatic. It’s not a guarantee,” Jones said. “The last time we played up there, we competed for a while. But John Adams and Jordan Hamilton — a couple guys not named McCollum — were the keys. They knocked down a bunch of threes in the second half.”
McCollum scored 26 points in that game, and 30 in an AU win at Bender last month. The 6-5 Broewer, who missed the first game with an injury, will likely guard the dangerous 6-3 junior.
“The game here, I thought we defended McCollum pretty well and he ended up with 30,” Jones said. “The other guys didn’t get the good shots.”
