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Friday, November 16, 2007
American no Buddy Holly
One thing is beginning to emerge here in the early part of the season: If American expects to have a winning season, it better learn to not fade away. For the third time in three games, AU struggled after intermission, for the second time in those three, it cost them in last night's 60-52 home loss to Fairfield.

Up by 9, 30-21, at the break, American opened the second half by going without a point for over 7 minutes. While Fairfield went on a 14-0 run, the Eagles went 0 for 9 from the field (0-5 three-pointers) with 4 turnovers.

AU righted ship enough to hang around a while longer, and led 43-41 with 8:31 to play. Then Fairfield's Greg Nero put the Stags ahead to stay with an old-fashioned and-one three-point play.

What went wrong? From the box score, a few things stick out. The Eagles perimeter-oriented offense started misfiring. AU was 4 for 7 from the arc while shooting 55 percent in the first half. In the second they shot twice as many threes and made half as many (2 for 14), while shooting 7 for 27 overall.

While Fairfield came out and emphasized going inside in the second half (1 for 8 from the arc in the 1st, just 2 three-point tries - 1 made -- in the second), improving its field goal percentage from 34.8 in the first (8-23) to 48 percent (12-25) in the second.

Attacking the hole brings secondary benefits. After going to the foul line just 4 times (4-4) in the first half, Fairfield shot 20 in the second, making 14. American, on the other hand, was 4 for 6 in the first, 6 for 10 in the second. You think it is mere coincidence that Fairfield scored 8 more points at the foul line and won by 8.

For the third game in a row, Derrick Mercer (17) and Garrison Carr (18, including 4 threes) were in double figures for AU. But nobody else scored more than 5. The post duo of starter Cornelio Guibunda and backup Constantin Motnii took a combined 1 shot, made none, grabbed 4 rebounds and never got to the foul line. The two played a combined 19 minutes. Suffice to say the Eagles need more than that from the center position.

The second half fadeaway is becoming a disturbing trend. In their opening win over St. Francis (pa.), the Eagles were outscored 45-33 in the second half. In that game, a 19-point halftime lead was big enough to hold up.

Tuesday night against Loyola (Md.), American was up 40-33 at the break and ended up losing 71-67.
Box score | AP

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Published at 7:38 AM by Hoop Time.
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