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Eagles Defeat Bucknell in Overtime, 58-55
Draughn posts third double-double in five games

Jernavis Draughn led all rebounders with 12 versus Bucknell.

Jan. 10, 2004 | Boxscore

WASHINGTON – American University senior Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) scored 10 points and grabbed 12 boards to lead the Eagles to a 58-55 overtime victory against Bucknell Saturday at Bender Arena in the Patriot League opener for both teams.

American led by a point, 54-53, with 58 seconds left in the overtime period when junior Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) pulled down a key rebound. He was fouled quickly and proceeded to hit both free throws to help secure the Eagles victory. Bucknell’s Kevin Bettencourt tried to tie things up with a three, but he missed and Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) grabbed the rebound. Rodriguez was also fouled and he hit one-of-two free throws to give AU a four-point lead with 36 seconds remaining. Cresnik sealed the victory with another free throw with 18 seconds left.

Cresnik finished the game with five rebounds and scored all three of his points in the last minute of the game. Rodriguez scored eight points, handed out seven assists, notched six rebounds and played the entire game. It is the fifth game this year he has gone the distance.

Bettencourt, who came into the game as Bucknell's leading scorer, was held to just six points by the Eagles, all on free throws. The combination of Rodriguez, Jason Thomas (Herndon, Va./Notre Dame Academy (Mass.) and Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) forced Bettencourt into shooting 0-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-five from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Ingram led AU in scoring with 13 points and he also chipped in four rebounds.

Bucknell went on an early 8-0 run in the first half, which was capped off by a dunk by Chris McNaughton that made the score 12-5 at the 10:26 mark. Linas Lekavicius (Silale, Lithuania/The Miller School) helped the Eagles dig themselves out of the hole as he closed out the first half with a layup at 2:38 and a three-pointer with :51 seconds remaining, to make the score 27-25 Bucknell at the intermission. Lekavicius finished with eight points in 17 minutes.

The Eagles pressured Bucknell in the early parts of the second stanza, tying the game seven times and fighting for the lead. With 52 seconds remaining, Ingram hit a jumper to tie the game up at 46 apiece. Ingram then gave AU a two-point lead on a layup after receiving a beautiful assist from Draughn with 25 seconds left. Bettencourt was fouled on a three-point attempt with five seconds left in the game and hit on two-of-three free throws to send the game into overtime.

American outrebounded Bucknell on the game by a dozen, 45-33, and outshot the Bison 42 percent to 31.6 percent. However, the Eagles had a season-high 24 turnovers, which helped keep the game close.

"I think we used up a good portion of our conference luck for the season in today's game," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "Bucknell was more ready to play today than we were, but obviously I am happy we won the game."

Bucknell was led by Charles Lee, who posted a game-high 18 points, while Donald Brown put up 10 points.

American will next travel to Patriot League rival Navy on Wednesday, Jan. 14 beginning at 7 p.m.