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American beats Navy to end decade-long drought to get back to NCAA Tournament

ByTristan Freeman|
Nov 15, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; American University Eagles forward Matt Rogers (15) with the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Nov 15, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; American University Eagles forward Matt Rogers (15) with the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

American started out Patriot League play at 1-2 and figured to have another middle-of-the-road finish in the conference. However, the Eagles won 10 out of 11 games at one point to become true contenders for postseason play. After beating Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, they hosted a Navy squad that had previously swept them in the regular season.

That wasn’t to be the case on Wednesday night, with American starting the game with a 7-0 lead. Thanks to an early ejection, the Eagles were able to maintain the lead and grow it out, coasting to a 74-52 win and first trip to the NCAA Tournament in over a decade.

Here are some takeaways from the game.

Jordan Pennick’s early and costly ejection

In just 90 seconds, the game took a drastic turn when Navy guard Jordan Pennick took an apparent shot at an American player’s sensitive area. Upon review, it was ruled to be a flagrant two foul, forcing him to be ejected. 

Pennick is Navy’s second-leading scorer at 11 ppg and he had success against American, scoring 22 points in the recent road win to complete the sweep. But his departure put all of the pressure on Austin Benigni, who scored 18 points, but it wasn’t going to be enough to get the win.

Colin Smalls early lift

Leading scorer Matt Rogers led the team with 25 points and was rightfully named Patriot League Tournament MVP at the end. But the game was still close early, with Navy biding its time to make a potential comeback. While Rogers was saddled with foul trouble, it was Smalls who scored eight early points to give American the lead. Rogers may have finished the job but it was Smalls who got them going. 

Preventing other scoring chances for Navy

The Midshipmen is a solid shooting team, but they do best at creating various other opportunities to score, such as getting offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line. That’s what they did in the first two outings, shooting around 50 combined free throws in the two earlier wins. That didn’t happen this time, as they shot around 35% from the field and didn’t get to their 10th FT attempt until three minutes left in the game. The defensive discipline shown by the Eagles played a big part in them winning the Patriot League Tournament.

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