American U holds of Navy 71-63 behind Nelson

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Sa'eed Nelson scored 25 points and made 11 of 12 free throws and American University held off Navy 71-63 on Wednesday night.

Mark Gasperini and Larry Motuzis added 12 points apiece for the Eagles (8-6, 2-1 Patriot League), who shot 51 percent and made 16 of 19 free throws.

Navy closed to 43-41 on a 13-2 run capped by George Kiernan's layup and his jumper made it at 47-all with 8:43 to play. Gasperini scored six straight and American led 62-56 on Motuzis' dunk with a minute left and Nelson made 6 of 6 from the stripe in the final 43 seconds.

American pulled away on an 11-2 run and led 32-26 at halftime on Gasperini's layup.

Kiernan scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Navy (5-9, 2-1). Evan Wieck added 16, Cam Davis 13 and Hasan Abdullah had 10 points with five assists.