Dec. 16, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - A new player helped bring about a new result for American on Wednesday, as transfer Vlad Moldoveanu scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his first action to lead the Eagles to a 62-57 upset at DePaul of the Big East Conference.

It is the first win for a Patriot League team over a Big East opponent since Lehigh beat Rutgers, 76-71, on Nov. 26 of last year. It's the first Patriot League victory over an FBS-level conference this season.

American (2-8) looked like a different team coming out of its 10-day exam break, as Moldoveanu and Nick Hendra each scored 10 first-half points to give the Eagles a 32-24 lead at the break. DePaul responded early in the second half, and the teams traded the lead until the Blue Demons went up, 57-56, with just under three minutes remaining. Hendra had the answer with the game-winning shot for American, hitting a three-pointer to put the Eagles up, 59-57, with 2:23 to go. The defense clamped down the rest of the way to hold DePaul scoreless, and Daniel Munoz helped seal the win with a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left.

Hendra and Stephen Lumpkins complimented Moldoveanu's performance with strong numbers themselves. Hendra tallied a career-high 17 points, while Lumpkins had eight points and a career-high 14 rebounds. The Eagles held a 39-27 advantage on the boards, and hit 11-of-15 foul shots.

Another Patriot League team returns from an extended layoff from game action on Thursday, as Lehigh plays its first game in 12 days when it hosts Dartmouth.

The Patriot League will provide a brief synopsis and links to school recaps and box scores on the men's basketball page every night during non-League play, and continue the expanded recaps once League action begins. School recap and box score links are also available on the men's basketball composite schedule, where any live stat, audio and video links are provided prior to each contest.

The scores from Wednesday are listed below, with the links on each school name going to the institution's recap and box score from the contest.