SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- — Colin Smalls scored 23 points as American held off the University of Albany 81-77 at the Puerto Rico Classico tournament on Sunday.

Smalls went 8 of 11 from the field (5 for 7 from 3-point range) for the Eagles (3-4). Elijah Stephens scored 20 points while shooting 7 of 10 from the field and 6 for 9 from the line and added five rebounds and six assists. Matt Mayock shot 6 for 8, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points.

Justin Neely led the Great Danes (5-2) in scoring, finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds. Byron Joshua added 17 points and six rebounds for Albany (NY). Kheni Briggs also recorded 14 points. The Great Danes ended a five-game winning streak with the loss.

American went into halftime ahead of Albany (NY) 39-30. Smalls put up 12 points in the half. American used an 8-0 run in the second half to build a 19-point lead at 65-46 with 10:27 left in the half before finishing off the win.

NEXT UP

American plays Saturday against UPR-Mayaguez, and Albany (NY) visits Georgetown on Saturday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.