GAME NOTES: The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic rolls along Sunday afternoon, as the American Eagles clash with the Morehead State Eagles in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the basketball court.

The Eagles of American are an even 2-2 through the first four games of the season, having a two-game win streak snapped on Saturday when they bowed to host Louisiana Tech by a lopsided 63-44 final.

Meanwhile, the other Eagles are already working on their sixth game of the campaign and are one game under .500 at the moment. The good news is that Morehead State ended a brief two-game slide on Saturday with a 69-48 thrashing of Presbyterian.

American labored through the meeting with the Bulldogs on Saturday, shooting only 34.0 percent from the field, which included 4-of-16 behind the 3-point line. Pee Wee Gardner was credited with 11 points and Jesse Reed 10 as the starting five accounted for all but six of the team's 44 points in the outing. Defensively, American allowed the hosts to hit on 51.1 percent from the floor and forced a mere seven turnovers.

One of the lowest-scoring programs in the country with a feeble 48.2 ppg, the Eagles of American have only two players scoring in double figures as John Schoof and Reed put up 13.2 and 12.0 ppg, respectively. Luckily, the program has been rather strong on defense overall, limiting opponents to just 46.8 ppg as those other teams shoot only 38.8 percent from the field and 32.3 percent beyond the arc.

Against the Blue Hose yesterday, Morehead State shot only 11-of-21 at the free-throw line and 40.0 percent from the floor, but that was still good enough to blow the doors off the competition. Brent Arrington and Angelo Warner both tallied 18 points, combining to shoot 13-of-17 from the field and 6-of-9 behind the 3-point line. Karam Mashour added another 10 points, while no one else on the roster made more than three field goals.

Warner, who has at least held a share of the scoring lead in two games this season, is responsible for 17.0 ppg as he shoots an impressive 11-of-22 beyond the arc, which is actually better than his 48.0 percent from the floor. Arrington checks in with another 14.4 ppg and Kareem Storey (8.8 ppg) handles the passing responsibilities with 34 assists over five starts.

American doesn't score points in an overwhelming manner, but at least the team has put together a defense that can still play well enough to make low point totals stand up. Assuming Morehead State will have trouble getting started in this quick turnaround affair, this should be a victory for American's Eagles.