American University Cruises Past Navy 69-47
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Charles Hinkle scored 18 points to help American University cruise to a 69-47 victory over Navy on Wednesday night and move to 11-0 at home.
Tony Wroblicky added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double as the Eagles (17-9, 8-3 Patriot League) grabbed sole possession of second place in the conference.
"My realistic expectation for him is activity level," American coach Jeff Jones said of Wroblicky, a sophomore whose first double-double came in last Thursday's 71-62 win over Lehigh. "When you get a double-double like tonight, ... it's a plus, it's an extra."
Lehigh, which is a half-game behind American, plays at first-place Bucknell on Thursday.
Thurgood Wynn scored 10 points for Navy (3-22, 0-11), which suffered its 18th straight defeat and has lost eight of its last nine against American.
The Midshipmen, who haven't won a road conference game since an 81-78 double-overtime victory at Colgate on Jan. 29, 2011, scored fewer than 50 points for the fifth time this season.
American scored the first 10 points of the game and raced out to a 36-12 halftime lead, it's largest since holding a 44-19 halftime lead at home in a 82-54 victory over Colgate on Jan. 7.
"I think it was big, because we weren't feeling very good about ourselves after Saturday's game," Jones said of the quick start Wednesday after the Eagles lost 59-52 at Holy Cross on Saturday. "I think, had we not gotten off to a good start, there would've been the possibility of, `Oh, do we start pressing?' and almost trying too hard."
Hinkle hit all four of his first-half 3-point attempts, and as a team the Eagles shot 54 percent from the floor (13 of 24) while holding Navy to 22 percent (5 of 23).
The Midshipmen hit just 1 of 8 first-half 3-point attempts.
American stretched the lead to as large as 48-17 early in the second half before substituting liberally for much of the remainder of the game.
The Eagles allowed the fewest points by an opponent all season -- setting the previous low in a 49-42 loss at Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 29 -- but fell just short of its first 30-point victory since a 79-49 win at Colgate in 2009.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
