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American Claims Consolation Championship at Rainbow Classic
Linas Lekavicius leads way with 22 points

Dec. 30, 2003 | Boxscore

Linas Lekavicius scored 17 points in the first half versus East Tennessee. He finished with a career-high 22 points.

HONOLULU, Hawaii – American University men’s basketball team jumped on East Tennessee State early, and eventually came away with a 71-66 victory. The win gave American the consolation championship and an overall record of 5-7.

Linas Lekavicius (Silale, Lithuania/The Miller School) was on fire in the first half, connecting on five-of-six from beyond the arc. He finished with a career-high 22 points and grabbed three boards, all in just 18 minutes of action. Lekavicius gave AU a 20-point bulge (57-37) when he buried a three-pointer with 12:28 left in the second half.

"The most important part of Linas' scoring today was how he did it," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "Nothing was forced, the points all came within the context of the offense."

Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) dished out a career-high 13 assists, which is the fifth-best single game by an Eagle. Along with the assists, Rodriguez chipped in five rebounds and two steals. Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) scored his second consecutive double-double with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Draughn was outstanding in the paint, hitting on seven-of-10 field goal attempts.

Freshman Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) had his first career double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his 11 points, two assists and one steal. Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza Ljubljani) finished with seven points and four rebounds.

American shot a season-high 64.7 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-17), and held a 45-31 edge in rebounding.

East Tennessee State was led by Tim Smith, who contributed 15 points and five assists. James Anthony was also solid for the Buccaneers with 11 points and three rebounds.

AU will next play on Saturday, Jan. 3, when they host Yale in Bender Arena. Game time is 3 p.m.