American U. 82, Lehigh 74

2/10/2008 1:23 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - Brian Gilmore scored a career-high 26 points and American shot a season-high 61.2 percent as the Eagles beat Lehigh 82-74 on Sunday to move into first place in the Patriot League.

American (14-10, 6-3) went on a 22-5 run and led 26-16 with just under nine minutes left in the first half. Brian Gilmore capped the strike with 11 straight points, and Carr, who made his first seven shots of the game, hit three 3-pointers in the surge.

The Mountain Hawks (11-11, 4-4) clawed back from a 19-point second-half deficit when Marquis Hall banked a falling 3-pointer to slash American's lead to 77-71 with just under a minute left, but they never got any closer.

Carr scored 22 points and tied a career high with eight rebounds for American, which has won three in a row and beat Lehigh at home for the first time in four years. Cornelio Guibunda added a season-high 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting.

Hall scored 20 points and Rob Keefer scored 16 to lead Lehigh, which lost its second in a row.