12/21/2001 - Men's Basketball
Buffalo Runs Away From Navy
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LAIE, Hawaii-In a game that featured several long scoring runs by both teams, Buffalo (6-3) had the final decisive run, outscoring the Mids 20-11 over the final 13 minutes, as the Bulls defeated Navy (2-7), 63-54 in the consolation round of the Yahoo Invitational. Navy will play the loser of the Columbia (6-3)-Valparaiso (7-3) game, Saturday at 10 a.m. (3 p.m. EST) in the seventh place game.
Buffalo started the game on fire, jumping out to a 26-11 lead, as Darcel Williams made three of his five three-pointers during the run. Navy was as cold as Buffalo was hot, making just four of 23 from the field in the first half. The Mids were able to cut the halftime lead to 10, going on a 12-7 run to end the half as the Mids made 15 of 18 from the free throw line.
Buffalo looked like they would blow Navy out at the start of the second half, getting a three-point play from Clement Smith and a three from Williams to make it 39-23 43 seconds into the second half.
Navy, though, would not go away like it did in the previous game against Montana when the Grizzlies put the Mids away with an early second half run.
Kyle Barker scored eight straight points, nailing two three-pointers and making two free throws after the Buffalo bench was hit with a technical foul, making the score 39-31 with 17:45 remaining. Jason Jeanpierre stopped the Barker streak with a three of his own to make it 39-34 with 16:46 left.
Louis Campbell stopped Navy's 10-0 run with a bucket, which was answered by Francis Ebong off an assist from Jason Jeanpierre. After Robert Brown scored to give the Bulls a seven-point lead, Jeanpierre scored seven straight points, tying the game on a three-pointer with 13:16 remaining.
"Yesterday we were in a similar situation and never got back in the game," said Barker. "We came out today with more intensity and picked up our defense in the second half. Unfortunately we couldn't knock down shots when we had too."
Williams stopped Navy's run with another three-pointer and Buffalo went on a 7-0 run as the Mids went more than 5 minutes without scoring. Barker stopped the Buffalo run momentarily by knocking down a jumper, but the Bulls then put the game away by outscoring the Mids 10-2 over the next three minutes, taking a 60-47 lead on a Daniel Gilbert three-pointer with 4:51 remaining.
"We played much better today, it was encouraging despite the loss" said Navy head coach Don DeVoe. "We did a nice job of overcoming a poor shooting night and getting ourselves back in the game by playing better defense. Marcel Williams was the difference in the game."
Barker led Navy with 16 points, while Jeanpierre added 14. Williams had 19 to lead Buffalo, while Campbell scored 15 and Robert Brown 10.
Buffalo shot .418 (23-55) from the floor, including a scintillating .476 (10-21) from behind the three-point line. The Bulls were 7-12 (.583) from the free throw line. Navy shot a dismal .265 (13-49) from the floor, making 6-19 (.316) from behind the three-point line. The Mids were 22-26 (.846) from the charity stripe.
Navy has now dropped two straight games and its 2-7 record is its worst start since Don DeVoe's first year at Navy when the Mids started 2-7 en route to an 8-19 record, which is the only losing season the Mids have had under DeVoe.
