Sorry for the long overdue post on this. Real life hasn't afforded me time to write a ton for the blog recently. On top of that, full disclosure and truth be told, I really couldn't be bothered to write a recap of a loss to Navy where we got beaten in every facet of the game. Check out AUEagles.com's recap of Saturday's Phil Bender Day victory and join me below for some of my thoughts.
- I had hoped that this team would come out and play with some fire in its belly after the loss to Navy, and they came out with a fire in their belly, under their asses, and especially from their shooting hands. AU jumped out to an 11-2 lead on the back of three straight 3-point buckets and a Lumpkins dunk. We never really looked back after that and Lafayette only got within single digits once in the second half.
- Our lead at one point was 19 in this game, but we never really went for the killing blow. It seemed like we were content to just let Lafayette hang within 10-12 points. I really wanted to see the team pour it on and put the Leopards away.
- Huge game from Lumpkins. 8-9 from the field, 4 blocks, 9 rebounds, and 21 points total. He even had a rare good day from the line and shot 5-6. Lumpkins' real success in this game came against Jared Mintz. Mintz was held to just 12 points on 4-13 shooting from the field. Mintz is one of the best big men in the PL and Lumpkins made him look pretty average all game.
- Nick Hendra: 7 assists to 1 turnover in 37 minutes. Awesome. Nick has been putting his body on the line a lot recently, flying after loose balls, going up hard for boards. The one knock is that he and Troy failed to connect on the alley-oop for what feels like the fifth or sixth time this year. Just take this one out of your playbook, guys.
- What was the deal with the refs in this game? First half: 10 fouls total called. 3 FTs attempted. Second half: 31 fouls total called. 36 FTs attempted. Just an amazing contrast, it's like the refs got together at halftime and realized they were enjoying watching the Blue Crew too much in the first half and decided to actually use their whistles in the second half.
- Great showing from the Blue Crew, the stands were packed, and the fans were loud. The Phil Bender game continues to be a crown jewel of the AU Athletics experience. I wish we had kept it as our game against Holy Cross, but Saturday demonstrated we can still pack the house for a team that isn't our rival.
- Bucknell lost to Army on Saturday. I know, I know. This isn't part of our game, but it's important enough to mention here. That Bison loss is huge for us and keeps us within one game of Bucknell. We need to hope that we can keep winning (which will be tough, our next two games are @Lehigh and @Bucknell) and that the Bison get tripped up again. The key to the Bison losing? Hope Shazier's immune system keeps rebelling I guess.
What were your thoughts about the game? Did you make it there? Did you enjoy the electric atmosphere? Have one too many Chipotle burritos? Let us know in the comments!
We'll be back in the middle of the week to update you about the Patriot League. Here's a preview of that post: everyone not named AU or Bucknell is bad.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Fun game to watch live on CBC College Sports . . . and especially fun to see the network rebroadcast the game on Sunday!
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