Big 3 lead Howard past American 85-83

Dec 8, 2018, 11:50 pm

WASHINGTON -- Howard's Big Three of Chad Lott, RJ Cole and Charles Williams teamed up to score 65 points and Howard made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 27 seconds to hold off American University 85-83 on Saturday.

Lott, who came in averaging 14.8 points per game, scored 24 on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor for the Bison (6-3). Cole, who leads the team with a 21.5 scoring average, finished with 21 points, tied his career high with 10 assists for his second double-double, and added seven rebounds. Cole, a sophomore, needs just 25 points to top 1,000 for his career. Williams scored 20 -- right at his average -- on 8-of-16 shooting. The trio combined to make 25 of 44 shots from the floor (57 percent). The rest of the Bison connected on 8 of 13 shots.

Sam Iorio knocked down 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range and scored 24 to top the Eagles (5-3). Sa'eed Nelson sank 13 of 14 free throws and scored 23, Mark Gasperini totaled 14 points and eight rebounds, and Marvin Bragg tallied 11 points, six assists and five boards.

The Eagles led 44-39 at halftime and had a 56-55 lead after Larry Motuzis' 3-point play with 14:30 left to play. Cole answered with a layup to spark an 18-6 run and Howard never trailed again. American leads the all-time series 16-6.