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AMERICAN PREVIEW
DAYTON, Ohio – No. 16 American (22-12, 13-5 PL), the 2025 Patriot League Men’s Basketball Champion, will face the MAAC Champion No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s (22-12, 12-8 MAAC) on Wednesday during the First Four at University of Dayton’s UD Arena.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN: Tip-off between the Eagles and Mountaineers is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET, on truTV. Spero Dedes will handle play-by-play, with Jim Spanarkel providing analysis and Jon Rothstein reporting from the sideline. Westwood One will also have live radio coverage with Nate Gatter and King McClure on the call.
LIVE STATS |
WATCH LIVE |
LISTEN ON WESTWOOD ONE
NCAA DI MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST FOUR
NO. 16 AMERICAN EAGLES (22-12, 13-5 PL) VS. NO. 16 MOUNT SAINT MARY’S MOUNTAINEERS (22-12, 12-8 MAAC)
UD Arena/Dayton, Ohio 6:40 p.m. ET (truTV)
BROADCAST (
truTV): PxP – Spero Dedes; Analyst – Jim Spanarkel; Sideline – Jon Rothstein
RADIO BROADCAST (
Westwood One): PxP – Nate Gatter; Analyst – King McClure
ABOUT AMERICAN: The Eagles enter the NCAA Tournament having won its last four games, including a 74-52 victory over No. 5 Navy in the 2025 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Men’s Basketball Championship Game. American snapped No. 3 Colgate’s 13-game Tournament winning streak in the semifinals with a 72-62 win. In the quarterfinals, AU held off No. 7 Lafayette, 71-69.
*Gr. F Matt Rogers collected Patriot League Tournament MVP honors after scoring 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to down the Midshipmen. Rogers is a three-time All-Patriot League selection and finished fourth in the League in scoring (17.0 ppg). Rogers is a Lou Henson Award finalist, presented to the top mid-major player in college basketball.
*Sr. G Elijah Stephens is a two-time All-Patriot League honoree, having claimed third-team honors in 2025. He averaged 10.6 points and 3.7 assists per game.
*So. F Greg Jones was a Patriot League All-Defensive Team and All-Tournament selection. Jones averaged 10.3 points and 3.8 rebounds.
*Head coach Duane Simpkins has guided the Eagles to 22 wins, the program’s most since winning 24 games in 2009. In two seasons at the helm of the Eagles’ program, Simpkins helped AU to a three-win improvement in League play between 2022-23 and last season. American’s 13 League wins this season matched a program-best mark from 2013-14 and 2008-09.
ABOUT MOUNT ST. MARY’S: No. 6 Mount St. Mary’s defeated No. 4 Iona, 63-49, to claim the MAAC Men’s Basketball title on Saturday.
*The Mountaineers recorded a pair of upset wins, downing No. 3 Marist, 62-58, in the quarterfinals before defeating No. 2 Merrimack, 57-55, in the semifinals.
*Dola Adebayo earned MAAC Championship MVP honors and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Dallas Hobbs and Arlandus Keyes.
*Adebayo averaged 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds during the season to lead The Mount, while Hobbs posted 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
AMERICAN NOTES
AMERICAN MEN’S BASKETBALL WEDNESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. You hear a lot that the best teams are player driven, and you've got a lot of seniors on the team. How can that help you get these guys ready for a game like this?
DUANE SIMPKINS: “Yeah, we've just gotten to that point the last three weeks of the season. I think we've become a player-led program. They're going to need my help a little bit, Jackie Manuel, from the standpoint -- our assistant coaches, from the standpoint that we've been here before. We know what it's like.”
“I told those guys the lights are going to be brighter, seats are plusher and everything else. I was just telling the guys on a radio interview this morning, I remember my first game in Wichita, Kansas, where we were playing Saint Louis in a 2:50 game or whatever it was, and it felt like everything was going a thousand miles an hour, and I felt like I couldn't dribble the basketball and nobody could make a shot.”
“They're going to go through that. I let them know that. If they make some shots and everything, they start off fine, that would be great. But my expectation is that's what it's going to be, and I'm going to be able to tell them that.
It's cool. We've been there. I know what it's like. We'll call a time-out if we have to, settle our nerves. But we'll utilize the fact that we have some institutional knowledge, so to speak, within our coaching staff.”
For more from Coach Simpkins, Matt Rogers, Lincoln Ball, Colin Smalls and Elijah Stephens, click below.
*Press conference video includes Mount St. Mary's, Texas and Xavier
AMERICAN PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS |
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Second-year head coach Duane Simpkins guided American to the program’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since joining the Patriot League for the 2001-02 season and its first since 2014. The Eagles have fallen in the First Round in their three previous trips. The 15th-seeded Eagles fell to No. 2 Wisconsin, 75-35, in the First Round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
AU went to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2008 and 2009. Garrison Carr, the 2008 Patriot League Tournament MVP, led No. 15 American with 26 points in a 72-57 loss vs. No. 2 Tennessee in the 2008 First Round. A year later, Carr scored 22 points, as No. 14 American fell to No. 3 Villanova, 80-67, in 2009 First Round.
Year – Round - Result
2008 First Round (Birmingham, Ala.): No. 15 American (L, 72-57, No. 2 Tennessee)
2009 First Round (Philadelphia, Pa.): No. 14 American (L, 80-67, No. 3 Villanova)
2014 First Round (Milwaukee, Wis.): No. 15 American (L, 75-35, No. 2 Wisconsin)
PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT VICTORIES
*Holy Cross defeated fellow No. 16 seed Southern, 59-55, during the First Four in Dayton to open the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
*No. 15 Lehigh upset No. 2 Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament Round of 64 behind 30 points, six assists and six rebounds from C.J. McCollum.
*Current Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee and Bettencourt combined for 42 points to lead the No. 9 Bison over No. 8 Arkansas, 59-55, during the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
*Bucknell won the League’s first NCAA Tournament contest, as Kevin Bettencourt’s 19 points led the No. 14 Bison over No. 3 Kansas, 64-63, in the first round in 2005.
PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS AS A NO. 16 SEED
The 2024-25 American Eagles are the 10th Patriot League squad since 1991 to make the Tournament as a No. 16 seed. Holy Cross was the last League team to be a 16-seed when they defeated Southern in the First Four before falling to No. 1 Oregon in the First Round. In 2015, Lafayette fell to No. 1 Villanova as a No. 16 seed.
Year – Round – Results
1993-94 - First Round- No. 1 Missouri 76, No. 16 Navy 53
1994-95 - First Round- No. 1 Kansas 82, No. 16 Colgate 68
1995-96 - First Round - No. 1 Connecticut 68, No. 16 Colgate 59
1997-98 - First Round- No. 1 North Carolina 88, No. 16 Navy 52
2001-02 - First Round - No. 1 Kansas 70, No. 16 Holy Cross 59
2003-04 - Opening Round- No. 16b Florida A&M 72, No. 16a Lehigh 57
2009-10 - First Round- No. 1 Kansas 90, No. 16 Lehigh 74
2014-15 - First Round - No. 1 Villanova 93, No. 16 Lafayette 52
2015-16 - First Four - No. 16 Holy Cross 59, No. 16 Southern 55
2015-16 - First Round - No. 1 Oregon 91, No. 16 Holy Cross 52
PATRIOT LEAGUE APPEARANCES BY SCHOOL
7 Colgate (1995, 96, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24)
6 Bucknell (2005, 06, 11, 13, 17, 18); Holy Cross (1993, 2001, 02, 03, 07, 16)
4 American (2008, 09, 14, 25)
3 Lafayette (1999, 2000, 15); Lehigh (2004, 10, 12); Navy (1994, 97, 98)
1 Fordham (1992) *left the League following the 1994-95 season
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.