Courtesy of NavySports.com
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Navy men’s basketball team (3-6) suffered a 79-46 loss at Furman (4-4) on Saturday in Timmons Arena. Furman led wire-to-wire in the contest and was ahead by 36 points late in the second half.
Navy had a very cold night shooting, going just 18-of-49 (37 percent) from the floor, 5-of-21 (24 percent) from beyond the arc and just 5-of-16 (31 percent) from the free throw line. Navy’s point total, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage were all season-lows.
Furman’s Andrew Brown was 6-of-7 on 3-pointers for a game-high 20 points off the bench. As a team, the Paladins made 12 3-pointers in the game and shot 59 percent from the floor.
“I thought Furman played very well,” said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. “It seemed like they made every perimeter shot they took. We didn’t do a good job of guarding them and we didn’t do a good job of really anything tonight. We missed layup after layup to start the game and we didn’t make simple basketball plays. Then we let their lead balloon and we never made a run in the second half. It was very disappointing.”
Sophomore Ryan Pearson scored a team-high 13 points for the Mids, who used 18 players in the game.
Three early 3-pointers helped Furman jump out to an 11-point lead at 15-4. After the lead grew to 13 points, Navy got a jumper from Pearson, a layup from junior forward Tom Lacey and then a pair of free throws from Lacey to cut the margin to nine points. Furman then went on a 13-0 run, keyed by two 3-pointers from Brown and carried a 41-16 lead into halftime. Navy’s 16 first-half points were a season low.
The Paladins scored the first six points of the second half as John Davis hit a 3-pointer and then Devin Sibley converted a three-point play on the next possession to go ahead by 31. Two triples by Pearson, then one from junior guard Shawn Anderson and another Pearson bucket cut the margin to 23 with 11:00 remaining, but Furman went on a 19-6 run to take its largest lead of the game at 36 points (75-39) with three minutes to play.
Navy’s reserves were able to chip away to cut the final margin to 33 as freshman forward James Butler knocked down a baseline jumper, sophomore guard Dominick Antonelli hit a 3-pointer and senior Grant Vermeer scored on a driving layup.
Furman’s Kris Acox had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Sibley scored 10 points as well.
The 33-point deficit was Navy’s largest since losing at Providence, 88-51, on Nov. 20, 2014.
Navy will return to Annapolis for a two-game homestand next week. The Mids will host Bryant on Tuesday and Columbia on Saturday.
“We have to get back to basics and get ready for Bryant on Tuesday,” said DeChellis.
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