Courtesy of NavySports.com
BALTIMORE, Md. – Junior forward George Kiernan scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures in Navy’s (8-3) 70-53 win at Coppin State (0-9) on Wednesday evening at the Physical Education Complex Arena. Navy won its fourth straight game and recorded its seventh win in its last eight outings.
“I was happy with the team tonight,” said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. “We ran our offense well, and we guarded well. I thought we played really well in spurts. We played very well in the first half defensively, but we didn’t keep that same intensity level going in the second half. Coppin made a run at us in the second half, but we came right back at them and got the lead over 20 again. That was really good to see us respond like that.”
Kiernan scored 15 of his season-high 17 points in the first half. Kiernan was 7-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-7 on 3-pointers. He also pulled down six rebounds and had two assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
Senior forward Tom Lacey scored 13 points, with two dunks, and five rebounds, while senior guard Bryce Dulin scored 13 points with five rebounds and four assists. Junior point guard Hasan Abdullah made it four Mids in double figures with his 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and career-high tying six steals.
Navy did not trail in the contest and closed the first half on a 24-4 run to break the game wide open. Kiernan scored 13 of Navy’s 24 points during the run and Abdullah scored in the closing seconds of the period to give the Mids a 35-14 halftime lead.
Coppin State shot just 21 percent from the floor in the first half (6-of-28).
Navy scored the first five points of the second half to take its largest lead at 26 points (40-14). Coppin State then immediately reeled off a 15-2 run, keyed by three 3-pointers from Keandre Fair, Cedric Council and Karonn Davis, before Navy freshman Cam Davis sunk a 3-pointer to slow down the Eagles spurt.
Navy then countered right back with an 8-0 run that saw Dulin, Lacey and Kiernan finishing baskets after running the court to push Navy’s lead to 22 points at 55-33 and prompt a Coppin State timeout.
Coppin State would get no closer than 13 points in the final minutes, and Navy eventually closed out the 17-point victory at 70-53.
Navy outshot Coppin State 52 percent to 34 percent and outrebounded the Eagles, 35-30.
Navy senior guard Shawn Anderson scored seven points with seven rebounds and three assists. Anderson moved into sole possession of 15th place on Navy’s all-time assists list with 245 career assists.
Davis led Coppin State with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Fair finished with nine points.
Navy spoiled first-year head coach Juan Dixon’s home opener at Coppin State with the 70-53 victory.
Navy improved to 7-0 this season, and 17-0 over the last two seasons, when scoring at least 70 points in a game.
Navy’s 8-3 start matches the 2015-16 team’s 11-game start of 8-3.
Navy will look to move to 9-3 when playing at Columbia on Sunday at 1:00 PM.
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