Eagles Brush With Crest Again As Colgate Falls In Bender

It's not often I'd say that a game against Colgate is exciting, exactly, or at least more exciting than any other game. However, today's game was downright exciting. Our Eagles definitely came prepared to this afternoon's first Bender White Out, teeth brushed with Crest and ready to topple the Raiders 69-60. That's right, I said topple. You might wonder, how does one exactly topple an opponent that is 6-19? Well, Colgate showed up at Bender today ready to upset, and for a brief period it looked like they might have found it in them. In a game so scrappy it was reminiscent of the 2008 Patriot League Championship game that was about as close to a wrestling match as you can get with ten guys and a basketball, AU showed it has what it takes to truly compete for the conference title this season.

After that kind of buildup, let's go through a list of what wowed me today. If I miss anything, don't be shy about letting me know in the comments. Let's go!

- STEPHEN "YOU CAN'T STUMP THE LUMP" LUMPKINS. As of today, that is now a grammatically correct sentence in itself. To multiple chants of "you can't stop him", the unstumpable one brought down a season-high 27 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and an assist for good measure, with only a single personal foul to show for it. Oh, and 82% shooting from the charity stripe (against a season average of 64%) wasn't shabby either. Lumpkins slammed down something like four monster dunks, including the first one-handed jam I've seen from him early in the first half off a fast break. After having to contend with Bucknell's Mike Muscala, Lumpkins took advantage of a team without a quality big, and by "took advantage" I really mean "eviscerated mercilessly until even dental records were useless." 

- Speaking of monster plays and one-handed dunks, Troy Brewer played the role of the human highlight reel to the fullest this game. For quick proof, see all three glorious camera angles at the bottom of the AUEagles.com recap. With a little over four minutes remaining in the first half, Colgate started to get the better of us, shooting lights out from downtown (57% for the game, they were nuts), complemented by some impressive dribble penetration from guard Mitch Rolls. After a drive and layup by Rolls, he decided to be even more ambitious, picking the ball right from Vlad's fingers a few possessions later. Troy was going to have none of it. As Danny Munoz valiently tried to chase Rolls down on the fast break, it seemed as if he was in the clear for an easy layup to go up 28-24. In comes Troy, streaking in like he competing in the 100 meter dash. As Rolls goes in for the layup, Troy launches himself over Rolls and slams the ball into the backboard, effectively rebounding it to Vlad. Danny brings it down the court, passes back to Troy, who doesn't see a shot, and passes back to Danny. Danny dishes it to an open Hendra who takes a DEEP three, clanging off the rim. Then WHAM! All of a sudden Troy is staring eye-to-eye with the rim again and slams the rock home to bring the score to a much preferable 26-24. I swear to you, his legs are actually giant springs. Although this was countered with a Colgate trey, we held the Raiders scoreless for the last four minutes of the half and ended the first period 29-28. Troy ended the game with 10 points and the faint hope of seeing himself on ESPN's highlight reel this evening. While Charles Hinkle wears the number 23 with pride, tonight that number should have been on Troy's back.

- The Danny/Steve Combo Platter: 8 points (including a deep three from Luptak to start the game), a 6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 4 rebounds earns us a solid 40 minutes from the one spot. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely solid.

- The Vlad Virus: This piece of unfortunate alliteration here hints to the fact that I suspect poor Vlad of having a cold or some other mild ailment which is throwing off his game a little. He scored what I could best call the quietest 17 points I've seen from the Impaler, mostly from a 10-11 showing from the free throw line. Vlad looked a bit off tonight, and I really hope he feels better before we head off to West Point on Wednesday. If not, it's always good to see those around him step up, and I commend his ability to take on a huge supporting role even when he's not in the spotlight. Sure, being the second-highest scorer in the game, 3 steals, 4 rebounds, and an assist are great numbers, but not quite normal Vlad-level numbers either. The three fouls he racked up were a bit telling too, as lately his play has been tight enough to avoid a lot of the ticky tack calls that plagued him last season.

- Stop, thief! Both AU and Colgate each recorded 7 steals for the game, which is impressive. Although we definitely looked better (through these red, white, and blue goggles, anyway) on this end, neither team was holding on to the ball terribly well. It was clear who made the most of their extra possessions, however.

- DE-FENSE! Honestly, the final score doesn't indicate exactly how hopeless this game became for Colgate in the second half. Although they were up a point at the break, AU came out in the second half with all engines blazing and never looked back. Colgate's highest scorer for the game was Sterling Melville, who only had 10, indicating that the Raiders had a balanced attack despite having only a single double-digit scorer. To our benefit, we held Yaw Gyawu, Nick Pascale, and Joe Hoban to 9, 8, and 8 points respectively. We showed a lot of hustle and with the exception of about five minutes in the first half, never let the Raiders find a rhythm. If it wasn't for their untimely accuracy from beyond the arc, it would have been a blowout.

- The Pep Band Bagpiper: Whichever intrepid pep band member decided that bringing his bagpipe was a good idea, we wholeheartedly agree. While I sincerely wish more of your songs could get the entire Blue Crew to turn around, clap their hands, and dance, it was great to see the Screamin' Eagles getting some of the recognition they deserve. Plus, bagpipes are just freakin' cool.

- Congratulations to the Eagle-in-Chief: President Kerwin reclaimed his Presidential Shootout title at halftime, defeating Student Government President Nathan Bronstein 7-4 and avenging last year's loss.

- Finally, props to athletics on producing some very nice White Out shirts. I hope this great event becomes an annual tradition.

Well that's that. Share your reactions to today's game in the comments, and we'll see you later this week as we travel to Army to thank them for beating Bucknell the only way Eagles know how - by winning.

Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES!

Josh