12/21/2001 - Men's Basketball
Navy Falls To Montana
Links associated with this release:
0
0
0
Laie, Hawaii-Montana (5-5) outscored Navy (2-6), 23-8, in the first 12 minutes of the second half as the Grizzlies went on to rout Navy, 78-61, in the first round of the Yahoo Invitational. Navy plays Buffalo (5-3), an 80-75 loser to Tulsa, at 6 p.m. (EST), in the consolation bracket.
The two teams battled evenly in the first half as there were five ties and nine lead changes.
Montana jumped out to an early seven-point lead at 14-7, but Navy went on a 16-3 lead of its own, capped off by a three-point play by Francis Ebong, to take a 23-17 lead with 10:11 left in the half.
Neither team played much defense in the first half as Navy shot .583 (14-24) from the floor and .500 (5-10) from three-point range, while Montana shot .542 (13-24) from the floor and .556 from behind the three-point arc.
Montana continued it's hot shooting to start the second half, while the Mids could not buy a basket as Montana went on a 23-8 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half to put the game away. Eight different Grizzlies scored, including four via the three-point shot.
"We let them get on a roll at the start of second half and we couldn't stop them," said Navy senior Jehiel Lewis. "We need to put this gamed behind us and get ready for Buffalo."
Navy head coach Don DeVoe was unhappy with his team's effort on the defensive end of the floor.
"I would like for us to be able to stop someone," said DeVoe. "We are not getting it done on the defensive end and until we start playing some defense we won't win many games."
The statistics back DeVoe up as Navy, off to its worst start since 1992-93 (that team started 1-7), has given up 70 or more points in six of the first eight games and have lost all six.
"Give Montana credit they are a very good basketball team," said DeVoe. "They are very strong up front and shoot the ball very well."
Lewis led the Mids with 13 points, while Kyle Barker added 12. Brent Cummings led the Grizzlies with 20 points, while David Bell chipped in 12.
The Mids will have their hands full on Friday, as Buffalo was impressive in its 80-75 loss to Tulsa (7-1). The Bulls made 11-18 from behind the three-point line. Darcel Williams was 4-5 from behind the three-point line and scored game-high 24 points.
It will be just the second meeting between the two schools and the first since 1959. Navy won the first meeting, 80-50.
