FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU’s Clyde Smith III hit a free throw with 9.4 seconds left andBrandon Venturini’s three-pointer at the buzzer went in and out as Big 12 member TCU held off the Navy men’s basketball team, 47-45, Tuesday night in Fort Worth.
The loss drops Navy to 2-3 overall, while TCU improved to 4-1.
Navy led most of the game, but went just 3-of-11 from the free throw line for the contest and shot 28.6 percent from the field in the second half in falling to the Horned Frogs.
“It’s important for us to grow as a program and this was a game that we need to figure out how to win,” said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. “I told the kids that it’s not about the last shot, it’s about the play we didn’t make earlier in the game. You can’t take plays off, whether it’s making an easy shot or a defensive play or grabbing a rebound. You have to make the plays whether its in the first minute or the final minute.”
Navy led virtually the entire first half holding its largest lead of the game at 26-19 with 1:56 to play on a Venturini jumper before settling in for a 26-23 halftime advantage.
The Horned Frogs used a 9-2 run out of the halftime break to grab a 32-30 lead, but Navy would regain the lead at 38-35 on Phil Guglielmo’s (Springfield, Va.) second three-pointer of the game with 9:15 to play.
With the game tied at 40, Navy would go scoreless for the next six minutes as TCU took a 46-40 lead on a rebound dunk by Garlon Green with 2:07 to play.
Venturini cut the lead to 46-43 with a long three-pointer, then after a Navy defensive stop, scored on a rebound putback with 11 seconds left to cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to one, 46-45.
TCU made one-of-two free throws to take a two-point lead with 9.4 seconds left, and Venturini’s off-balance three-pointer went in-and-out as TCU held on for the 47-45 decision.
Navy shot just 19-of-51 (.373) from the field and 4-of-16 (.250) from three-point range. The Mids made just 3-of-11 (.273) free throw attempts and were guilty of nine turnovers, including just three in the second half. Navy was outrebounded, 32-28, for the contest.
TCU shot 18-of-38 (.474) from the field, 2-of-9 (.222) from three-point range and 9-of-16 (.563) from the free throw line. The Horned Frogs were guilty of 13 turnovers.
Worth Smith (So. / Mooresville, N.C.) paced Navy with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Venturini added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists and freshman point guard Tilman Dunbar (Fairfax, Va.) tallied 10 points, six assists and two rebounds.
Devonta Abron led TCU with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Navy will now travel to South Padre Island, Texas, on Friday to face Prairie View A&M at 3:30 PM (ET). Fans can listen to the game on WNAV (1430 AM, 99.9 FM, wnav.com) with Pete Medhurst on the call courtside.
# GO NAVY #
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