Men's basketball: Navy shows more fight in win over Army
WEST POINT – Army is playing an exciting brand of basketball this season but the Black Knights are going to need to find a little more fight to challenge in the Patriot League.
A strong start to the first half on Saturday staked the Black Knights to a 39-31 halftime lead. Navy responded with a bit more pressure and made Army uncomfortable. A 14-2 run early in the second half pulled the Midshipmen back in and a strong close enabled Navy to pull out the 77-71 win before 5,025 at Christl Arena.
Photo gallery:Navy defeats Army in men's college basketball
“I thought it was a lot more physical basketball game in the second half and I don't know that we did as good a job adjusting to the officiating in the second half as we needed to and I thought Navy did,’’ said Army coach Jimmy Allen. “We let that physicality rush us a little bit and we didn’t take care of the basketball.’’
Two weeks ago, Army was off to a 3-0 league start. Since then, the Black Knights have dropped three of four home games, letting a late six-point lead evaporate against Colgate, falling short in a comeback attempt against Bucknell on Wednesday and then getting outplayed late on Saturday.
Turning point
A layup by Chris Mann with 15:53 to play staked Army to a 48-39 lead. Navy went on a 14-2 run over the next 4 ½ minutes for a 53-50 lead– the Black Knights shot 1-for-4 and turned the ball over once while the Mids hit five of eight shots, including threes from Sean Yoder and Christian Jones.
Stilk, Army held a 63-62 lead with five minutes remaining. A layup by Daniel Deaver, a dazzing dunk by Tyler Nelson, a three from Nelson and two foul shots by Yoder staked Navy to a 71-66 edge – that’s as close as Army would get.
Army player of the game
Allen said senior Chris Mann was in “as bad a slump as I think you could possibly be.’’ Starting Jan. 9, Mann shot just 2 for 17 over four games. Allen said Mann put in a lot of extra work in the gym and the results were impressive.
Mann was scoring from the inside and out, hitting 11 of 15 shots for a season-high 28 points. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
“That's what you want the response to be,’’ Allen said. “For most of tonight he was the biggest, strongest, best player on the court, and ultimately we need that moving forward.’’
By the numbers
Army (11-10, 5-3 Patriot) – This is the first time Army has dropped two in a row since mid-December. … Army trails Colgate (8-0) by three games. … Army missed nine of 23 free throws. … Jalen Rucker scored 15 but had six of the team’s 17 turnovers, which Navy turned into 21 points. … Freshman Ethan Roberts scored 12 in his first Army-Navy game.
Navy (10-10, 3-5 Patriot) – Senior Christian Jones – little-used over three seasons – hit seven of nine shots for 21 points, his best outing against Army. Nelson scored 16, Deaver 14 and Yoder 13. … The Midshipmen shot 58 percent in the second half. .. It was a good week for Navy, which snapped a five-game losing streak with a 63-45 win over Boston on Wednesday and then beat Army.
They said it
“Ultimately I thought us not taking care of the basketball ended up really being the difference in the game possession wise. We’ve got to be stronger with the ball. … The turnovers we had led to some easy baskets for them where we didn't have a chance to play defense and that was 100% of the difference in the game.’’ – Army coach Jimmy Allen
“I knew we'd shoot the ball a little better the second half and we did … we made some big shots. I thought defensively we got our hands on a few balls that we knocked free and got some transition baskets and kind of put them on their heels.’’ – Navy coach Ed DeChellis
Coming up
Army plays at American on Wednesday and hosts Holy Cross on Saturday. The rematch with Navy comes Feb. 11 in Annapolis.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army vs. Navy men's basketball: Midshipman top Black Knights
