12/28/2001 - Men's Basketball
Home Sweet Home, Mids Defeat Belmont, 78-72, In Annapolis
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After playing seven of its first-10 games of the season on the road, the Navy men's basketball (3-8) team returned home to Annapolis and in doing so, produced its third win of the year, a 78-72 win over Belmont (5-5) Friday night at Alumni Hall. The Mids utilized a 29-13 run over the final eight-and-a-half minutes to come from 10 points down and capture the win over a Bruins team that had previously beaten Valparaiso, Georgia State and Santa Clara.
"This was a tremendous win by our team tonight," said Navy head coach Don DeVoe who posted his 492nd-career win. "Belmont is a great team who has beaten some mighty fine teams this season.
"We had a great, great effort on Belmont's leading scorer Wes Burtner. He had impressive numbers coming into the game and I credit Jehiel Lewis (Houston, Texas) for staying on him."
Burtner, who was averaging 20.3 points a game coming into the contest, was held to just five field goals on the evening.
Despite Navy capsizing Burtner's offensive rhythm, sophomores Steve Drabyn and Adam Mark teamed up to form the Bruins' inside-outside game. The two combined to score exactly half of Belmont's points, as Mark led the team with 19 points and nine boards. Drabyn recorded five of Belmont's 11 three-pointers and missed just two shots all evening.
While Belmont shot 54.3 percent (25-of-46) from the field for the game, perhaps the key to the contest was its lofty 28 turnovers.
"Turnovers were a key in this game," said DeVoe. "When they weren't turning the ball over, they shot the ball extremely well. They had a streak in the second half in which they turned the ball over in four of their five possessions and we were able to take advantage of that."
Indeed that spurt of turnovers developed into points for the Mids, as Navy scored 11-consecutive points to go from a 10-point deficit to a one-point lead (60-59) with 5:04 remaining in the game. During that run, four different Mids scored points, including a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Lewis.
While Belmont went on to knot the score at 60 all and again at 63, Drabyn went on to foul out of the game with 2:49 to go and the Bruins were unable to regain the lead.
Navy shot just 37.3 percent (25-of-67) from the field, but hit 21 of its 27 free throws (.778). The Mids turned the ball over just 14 times, one more than their season low of 13 at SMU. Another blinding stat was Navy's rebounds. Twenty-one of its 37 boards came off the offensive glass which consequently led Navy to a 20-4 advantage in second-chance points. It also out-scored the Bruins 23-9 on points off turnovers.
Lewis led the Mids with a season-high 20 points, while adding seven boards, two assists and a pair of steals. Junior Jason Jeanpierre (Clifton Park, N.Y.) knocked down three triples en route to his 16-point effort and junior Kyle Barker (Lyons, Mich.) came off the bench to produce 18 points.
"Sitting Kyle this game and having him come in off the bench to score 18 has to do a lot for his confidence," said DeVoe. "He hit a key three down the stretch that really helped us and he also found a way to get to the free throw line."
Navy returns to action Sunday when it plays host to a 1-8 Mount St. Mary's squad. Action is slated for 3 p.m. at Alumni Hall.
G-o N-a-v-y
