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American Beats Sixth-Seeded Colgate, 65-55, to Earn Spot in Patriot League Championship Game
Eagles will face Lehigh in title game next Sunday

March 7, 2004 | Boxscore

Jernavis Draughn led AU to the Patriot League Championship Game with 16 points and eight boards in a 65-55 win over Colgate.

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - American University men's basketball team outrebounded Colgate 43 to 19 and outshot the Raiders 47 percent to 35 percent in a 65-55 win Sunday in the Patriot League Semifinals at Show Place Arena. The win is AU's sixth in a row, most since the 1989-90 season, and gives the Eagles their third consecutive appearance in the league's championship game.

Trailing 25-20 with just over two minutes left in the opening period, AU went on a 17-0 run from the 2:04 mark to 15:20 of the second half, to take what appeared to be a commanding lead, 37-25. Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) started the run with a layup and added two more buckets in that stretch. Draughn finished with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds.

However, Colgate slowly chipped away at the lead, and consecutive Raider three-pointers by Andrew Zidar and Alvin Reed cut the deficit to just three points with 8:13 left. Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) stopped the run with a pair of free throws.

The lead bounced back-and-forth between nine points and four points over the next six minutes. With one minute left in the contest AU led by just four, 59-55, but the Eagles held Colgate scoreless while they hit six-of-10 free throws.

AU head coach Jeff Jones was particularly pleased with his team's effort on the boards.

"In a game where buckets were hard to come by, getting [those extra] opportunities off of rebounds was big for us," Jones said. "I think it was key for us ... it was definitely an effort stat."

In addition to Draughn's 16 points, Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) added 15 points and five assists, while Petrauskas tacked on 11 tallies.

Colgate was led by Howard Blue, who had a game-high 18 points. The Raiders finish their season 15-14.

The second-seeded Eagles will face top-seeded Lehigh at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., in the title game next Sunday at noon. It is the fifth straight year the PL title game has come down to the top two seeds in the tournament. American participated in the last two championship games, but lost both to Holy Cross. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.