American 65, Lehigh 61

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- Jason Thomas scored a career-high 27

points and sank a pair of free throws with seconds to go as

American held off Lehigh 65-61 on Wednesday night.

Thomas shot 10-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-8 on 3-pointers

to lead American (14-11, 7-6 Patriot League).

Jose Olivero led Lehigh (13-13, 7-6) with 19 points while Earl

Nurse scored 12 points, Jason Mgebroff had 11, and Joe Knight

kicked in 10.

Lehigh trailed by nine with 6:05 to go, but a rally capped by a

3-pointer by Olivero cut American's lead to two with 3:02

remaining. Linas Lekavicius sank a pair of foul shots with 21.1

seconds to go to give American a 63-58 lead.

Olivero responded by drilling another 3-pointer to make it a

two-point game again, but Thomas drained his only foul shots of the

game and time ran out on the Mountain Hawks.