Blue Demon For Dinner, Retriever For Dessert

So I must confess - after we faced the University at Albany Great Danes in November, I felt like I had passed up a wonderful opportunity for a Michael Vick gag. What great relief it was when I remembered they were not the only team with a canine mascot we'd be facing this season. After a delay for the biggest snow storm DC has likely witnessed in a decade, we'll be facing down the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers today at 4:30 PM in Bender Arena. Get a whiff of the impending action after the jump.

Like most Eagles fans, I'm still basking in the glow of taking down a BIG EAST team whilst ranked 339 of 347 Division 1 basketball programs (at least according to realtimerpi.com). Particularly refreshing was that we successfully weathered DePaul's early second-half comeback, after watching our halftime lead hopelessly slip away in our last BIG EAST contest (Villanova, I still maintain you just got lucky). Best of all, however, was that Vlad "The Impaler" not only met all of our high expectations, he blew them completely out of the water. Here's a snippet from ESPN.com last Wednesday with their top performers of the day:


So, as always, the biggest question is - can we win? Could we actually, Clawed forbid, extend our winning streak to two whole games? I actually think so. There's two reasons for this. The first, and most important, is Vlad. Even if he doesn't average 26 points this season (and no one can realistically expect him to), his raw skill is not the biggest thing he brings to the team. His presence as the leader this team so desperately needed makes everyone else play that much better, and that's what's really going to elevate our game going into Patriot League play.

The second reason I think we can win is UMBC's record this season. The Retrievers are 0-9 on the year, a record we certainly don't envy. That's right, this is the third winless team we've faced so far (to jog your memory, UMES and Howard were the first and second), and we're 1-1 in those games right now. A quick glance at UMBC's roster shows a laundry list of injuries that have kept some of the Retriever's best players in the kennel, so to speak, and the impact this has had is reflected in their record. Both 6'9" Junior Forward Justin Fry and 6'4" Freshman Guard Jamar Wertz will be out of action tomorrow, while 7'0" Junior Center Robbie Jackson will be playing off the bench after starting for the Retrievers in their first seven games this season, and sitting out for the past 2 due to an ankle injury. On top of this, 6'5" Sophomore Guard Chauncey Gilliam sat out of a game earlier this season due to injury, and this will be only his second game after returning to the Retriever's starting lineup.

Despite a roster that seems to have spent more time in the hospital than on the hardwood, these puppies should not be underestimated. Two seasons ago UMBC came into Bender and handily beat our eventual NCAA Tournament team. We repaid the favor last season, handing the Retrievers a 74-61 loss this time last December at UMBC. Only three days afterwards however, UMBC beat the Nebraska Huskers of the Big 10 on their home court, snapping the eighth longest non-conference home winning streak in the nation. This season Matt Spadafora and Gilliam are both averaging in the double digits in points, while Chris De La Rosa and Adrien Satchell both hit double digits in UMBC's last game vs. Rider. Needless to say, I do not expect this to be an easy win. We've dropped games I've been quite confident about before, but I'm hoping at this point we're past that part of this young team's learning curve.

Tomorrow's starting lineup appears to be Lumpkins, Grafft, Jolivette, McCormack, and Hendra. I was admittedly mistaken when I assumed Vlad would be starting right away, and I expect he will be coming off the bench again today. By Patriot League time, however, he should be starting regularly. Also this blogger has noticed that Blake Jolivette has more or less taken over the starting point guard spot from Danny Munoz over the past five games, although I expect they will continue to rotate on an occasional basis throughout the season. I still see a dual-guard attack (reminiscent of Mercer-Carr) coming from these two in just a few seasons. Finally Hendra's total turnaround of his lackluster performance at the beginning of the season is praise-worthy. After averaging just over 5 ppg in the first six games of the season, Hendra lead the Eagles with game-high points and team-high rebounds and assists against Georgetown. This was followed with a career-high 17 points (including 3 treys) against DePaul. Many attributed Hendra's early struggles to the incredible pressure he faced to lead the team. He just didn't perform well under this pressure, which is relieved greatly by the presence of Vlad on the court. If Hendra can continue performing at the 13.5 ppg clip he's accumulated over the last 3 games, our (very recent) winning ways will surely continue into the New Year.

Lady Eagles Also Soar Tomorrow In Bender

It's definitely worth mentioning as well that the rescheduling of today's game has created the first men's/women's double header all season. Before the men take to the court at 4:30, the women will be taking on the University of Maryland Terrapins at 2:00. Having UMD come to Bender is a great accomplishment for the women, and something the Terps haven't done in over twenty years. It should be an exciting game, and our Lady Eagles (5-4) are on a two-game winning streak of their own. Junior Forward Michelle Kirk leads the Patriot League with 20.3 ppg, so at the very least we should put up a good fight...and at best garner the second major upset for American University in a week.

On this note, I thought I'd dig up something from the archives to share today. On November 24th, 1996, the women welcomed another ACC power into Bender Arena. That day our Eagles downed the #7 University of Virginia Cavaliers 69-67 in a major upset. Below is video of the winning shot at the buzzer that - hopefully - is a precursor of a similar performance tomorrow.

What better holiday gift could there be than 4+ solid hours of Eagles basketball? World peace? Nah, that just doesn't cut the mustard. Whether you show up tomorrow at 2:00, 4:30, or just watch online because you are spending some quality time with your family far from the District and Bender Arena, make sure to be LOUD, be BLUE, be AU! See you there!

Fear the Eagle,
Josh