Courtesy of NavySports.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Behind a sound all-around team effort on Saturday evening, the Navy men’s basketball team (14-5, 5-1 PL) moved into a tie for first place in the Patriot League following an 87-61 win over Lafayette (5-12, 2-4 PL) at Alumni Hall. Navy is tied with Bucknell (5-1) at the top of the league standings after six of 18 league games.
Navy shot 56 percent from the floor (37-of-66) and had 26 assists against just eight turnovers. The Mids held a 41-28 rebounding advantage and scored 24 second-chance points off of 17 offensive rebounds. Navy also made a season-high nine 3-pointers in the contest.
“Tonight we really played as a team,” said senior captain Kendall Knorr. “We moved the ball really well and changed sides of the court so our shooters could step in and knock shots down. The big guys finished inside and when the defense collapsed we had great passers in the post and we got good looks all night.”
Navy won five straight conference game for the first time since 2008 and with their 5-1 league record, the Mids are off to their best start to league play in 15 years.
“We’re a team that has to play really good defense, we have to rebound and we have to take care of the ball and we did all three of those things tonight,” said head coach Ed DeChellis. “I thought we shared the ball well. I thought defensively we weren’t great in the first half but we were much better in the second half and only gave up 25 points. It was a total team effort and a lot of guys played well.”
Navy had several outstanding individual performances on Saturday as five players scored in double figures and the Mids put up a season-high 87 points.
Senior center Will Kelly scored a team-high 17 points, had three dunks, eight rebounds and two blocks and sophomore center Edward Alade added 11 points with six rebounds.
Knorr made three 3-pointers in the game’s first six minutes and finished with 11 points and three assists. Junior guard Tim Abruzzo tallied 11 points, five rebounds and two assists and sophomore forward Tom Lacey posted 10 points and six rebounds.
Senior point guard Tilman Dunbar scored nine points with six assists against just one turnover and also grabbed four rebounds. Sophomore guard Shawn Anderson tallied nine points with six assists, two rebounds and two steals.
In addition to Knorr’s early 3-pointers, Dunbar and Abruzzo connected from deep in the first 10 minutes as the Mids used their five triples to take a 22-15 lead over the Leopards. Kelly had a nice up-and-under move on the baseline to put Navy ahead by 10 at 37-27 before Lafayette used a 9-1 run to cut the margin to two just before halftime.
Alade added a late field goal at the end of the first half to give the Mids a 40-36 lead at the break and then Navy opened the second half on a 21-5 run to take a 20-point lead at 61-41. The lead then extended to 28 points at 73-45 as the Mids put the game out of reach en route to the 87-61 final.
Navy got layups from Dunbar and Anderson early in its second-half run and then Abruzzo came off the bench to provide five quick points. Abruzzo had a steal and a fastbreak dunk and then drilled a straightaway 3-pointer Navy’s next possession to prompt a Lafayette timeout.
Alade then scored on an offensive putback and junior guard Zach Fong followed with a 3-pointer on the next two possessions as Navy’s lead quickly grew to 20.
Navy shot a scorching 66 percent (21-of-32) from the field in the second half, scoring 47 points.
Alade, Kelly and Lacey had four offensive rebounds apiece for the Mids on Saturday.
Lafayette’s Matt Klinewski scored 17 points with seven rebounds and Nick Lindner added 15 points.
With its 14th win, Navy has increased its overall win total under DeChellis for the fourth straight season.
Navy is on its second five-game winning streak of the season. The Mids won seven games in a row from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2.
Navy will next play at Lehigh (5-12, 3-3 PL) on Wednesday at 7:00 PM before facing rival Army West Point (11-6, 2-3 PL) on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
OTHER GAMES IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Lehigh 87 Holy Cross 66
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team used a complete team effort, led by 22 points from junior Austin Price and 20 from classmateTim Kempton, to pick up an impressive 87-66 win at Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon. The win marked Lehigh’s largest-ever victory at Holy Cross. Leading by nine at the half, the Mountain Hawks extended their lead to 20 in the second and wouldn’t look back as they improve to 3-3 in Patriot League play. READ MORE.
Video courtesy of Lehigh Athletics.
Colgate 84 Bucknell 73
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Colgate Men’s Basketball went on the road and took down undefeated Bucknell here Saturday night for a gutsy 84-73 victory. READ MORE.
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