Vlad Moldoveanu scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead American University to a 65-62 victory over Army on Wednesday night.
Stephen Lumpkins added 16 points and Nick Hendra had 12 as American preserved its unbeaten home conference record against Army since joining the Patriot League in 2002.
Moldoveanu recorded his second double-double of the season for the Eagles (13-6, 3-1), who won their second straight and sixth in their past seven.
Ella Ellis scored 21 points and Jeremy Pence added 18 for Army, which was attempting to start conference play 3-1 for the first time since the conference's inception in 1990-91.
Julian Simmons added 10 points for the Black Knights (10-9, 2-2), who lost their first conference road game in three trips this season.
American led most of the second half, but never by more than seven points. And it saw Army take a 58-56 lead after a 6-0 spurt, during which Hence hit two foul shots and a driving, go-ahead layup.
Troy Brewer responded with a 3-pointer from the right corner to put the Eagles ahead and Moldoveanu stretched it to 63-58 with an up-and-under layup and a pair of foul shots.
Ellis' put-back jumper with 18 seconds left gave Army one final chance, but the Eagles hit three of their final four free-throw attempts to seal the victory.
American won despite shooting just 52 percent (15 of 29) from the foul line, its worst performance of the season. But the Eagles outrebounded Army 37-27 and held the Black Knights to 37 percent shooting.
The Black Knights' only road win over the Eagles came in the teams' only non-conference meeting, a 100-70 win on Dec. 23, 1963. American leads the series 19-3.
