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Nov. 16, 2003

Boxscore

Andres Rodriguez contributed nine points, 11 assists and five steals in an 86-80 win over Sakalai Vilnius.

AU Defeats Sakalai Vilnius in Exhibition Finale, 86-80
Petrauskas' 19 points leads five Eagles in double figures

WASHINGTON - American University men’s basketball trailed by 10 points at halftime against Sakalai Vilnius, but used a 12-2 run to open the second half to tie the game at 47 and outlasted the Lithuanian team for an 86-80 win Sunday at Bender Arena.

“We have so many young players it is hard to know what our identity is,” said American University Head Coach Jeff Jones. “But hopefully, we can take the effort we gave in the second half. In the last half, everything we did stemmed from our defensive effort.”

Trailing 45-35 to begin the second stanza, Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy) chipped in six of his game-high 19 points, and center Matej Cresnik (Velenje, Slovenia/Univerza V Ljubljani) hit a three-pointer to help the Eagles tie the game at 47 with 15:54 remaining. Freshman Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) hit a three-pointer to take the lead, 50-47.

Sakalai rallied to tie the score at 73 with 4:46 remaining, on a layup by Rolandas Skaisgirys, but American held Sakalai scoreless over the next 3:30 to take an eight point lead. The Eagles then hung on for the win. Mindaugas Sakalauska led Sakalai with 19 points.

Five Eagles reached double figures in points, including Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior), who also had 14 rebounds. Freshman Linas Lekavicius (Silale, Lithuania/The Miller School [Va.]) scored 15 points on seven-for-nine shooting, while Cresnik and Ingram both had three treys and finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Senior point guard Andres Rodriguez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Louisville) scored nine points and added 11 assists and five steals.

“If you look at Andres (Rodriguez) line it looks pretty good,” said Jones. “But he had a great game. He gave as good a performance as he could and he will be a huge key to our team this year.”

American returns to action Nov. 22 at Maryland. Game time is set for 8 p.m.