Courtesy of NavySports.com
BOSTON, Mass. – The Navy men’s basketball team (19-10, 10-6 PL) put forth a strong defensive effort and had five players score in double figures in a 62-48 win at Boston University (12-15, 8-8 PL) on Saturday afternoon in Case Gym.
“I’m really proud of this team,” said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. “We really played hard. It was a tough, hard-fought game. I thought our defense tonight was as good as its been. I really like our defensive synergy. The seniors have been doing a great job and the guys executed the game plan very well.”
Navy won its fourth straight game and also won its sixth straight true road game. The last time Navy won six straight road games was during the 1994-95 season.
Navy sits in second place in the Patriot League standings at 10-6, a half-game ahead of Colgate (9-6), who will play Loyola on Sunday.
Senior guard Shawn Anderson scored 13 points with four rebounds and four assists against Boston, while junior guard Hasan Abdullah also tallied 13 points with two steals.
Junior forward Mo Lewis scored a career-high 12 points and had a career-best eight rebounds. Lewis was 4-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Lewis had five offensive rebounds in the game, two of which were followed by offensive putbacks and two drew fouls that sent him to the free throw line.
Lewis also matched his career-high of minutes played with 17. Junior forward George Kiernan missed the game with an injury and Lewis made the most of his opportunity.
“Anytime I get on the court and get my opportunity, I’m always going to give it my best,” said Lewis. “I just need to be ready for when my number is called.”
Senior forward Tom Lacey scored 12 points with six rebounds and senior guard Bryce Dulin was the fifth player in double figures with 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
Boston’s Cedric Hankerson scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game to put the Terriers ahead 16-12. Navy then responded with an 18-3 run over the next 8:03to take a 30-19 lead. Boston scored just three free throws during the stretch, while Navy pressured the Terriers into six turnovers and 0-of-6 shooting.
Lewis scored six points for Navy during the stretch, while Abdullah had a steal and a fastbreak layup and scored four points.
Boston’s Will Goff and Tyler Scanlon hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the period as the Boston cut Navy’s halftime lead to 31-26.
The Terriers opened the second half on a 7-1 run to briefly take a 33-32 lead, but Navy freshman Cam Davis hit a jumper to give Navy a lead that it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
Navy went on a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach at 58-44 with 6:27 remaining. Anderson got a defensive rebound and passed ahead to Lewis who was wide open for a layup to start the run and Lacey scored four points during the stretch. Two minutes later Lewis effectively sealed the game by scoring on a putback to put Navy ahead 16 (62-46) with 3:49 remaining and then he got a steal on the next possession.
Navy outshot Boston U. 45 percent (23-of-51) to 38 percent (17-of-45). Navy also outrebounded Boston 34-27. It was the 15th straight game that Navy outrebounded its opponent.
Navy scored 16 points off of Boston’s 16 turnovers and the Mids also scored 11 points off of their 11 offensive rebounds.
Hankerson finished the game with 11 points for Boston, while Max Mahoney scored 10.
Navy has been playing great defense as of late and is allowing an average of just 53.8 points over its last six games.
The 48 points allowed by Navy was the lowest in the 12-game series history with Boston.
Navy won its third straight game at Case Gym and the teams split the 2017-18 season series.
Boston lost its fifth straight game.
At 19-10 overall, Navy has matched the 2015-16 team’s win total (19-14). With its 10-6 league record, Navy has also matched last season’s Patriot League win total of 10-8.
Navy will next play at first-place Bucknell (20-9, 14-2 PL) on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
Leave a Reply