1/19/2002 - Men's Basketball
Navy Wins Second Straight Overtime Thriller
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HAMILTON, N.Y.-Senior Demond Shepard made two free throws with six seconds left in overtime to give Navy (8-11, 3-1) a thrilling 95-93 overtime victory over Colgate (9-7, 1-3) in front of 1,010 fans at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate's Devin Tuohey missed a wide open three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Mids their first win away from home and their second straight overtime win. Navy defeated Lehigh, 92-85, in double overtime on Wednesday.
"When you play two overtime games and you are fortunate enough to win both it is a sign that your team is starting to mature," said Navy head coach Don DeVoe, who picked up his 497th career win. "We knew we really had to step it up and start playing well on the road and we did that today. Colgate has the best winning percentage of any team in our league (in overall games) and for us to win here today was huge."
Navy led 44-42 at the half, but the Raiders went on a 19-12 run to start the second stanza and took a 61-56 lead with 10:11 remaining on two straight three-pointers by Tim Sullivan. Colgate equaled its biggest lead of the day at six (74-68) on a Pat Campolieta dunk with 4:55 remaining.
Navy, though, refused to go away, going on an 11-0 run to take a 79-74 lead with 1:57 remaining. The Mids took the lead on a three-pointer by Jehiel Lewis and then went up five when Jason Jeanpierre knocked down a three-pointer and was fouled by Dave Hardy. Jeanpierre's free throw gave Navy a 79-74 lead with 1:57 remaining.
Jeanpierre put Navy up four at 82-78 with 44 seconds left when he made his fifth three-pointer of the game, but fouls by Lewis, Jeanpierre and Shepard nearly cost Navy the game in regulation.
Lewis reached in and fouled Mark Linebaugh with 28 seconds left and the Mids up four, picking up his fifth foul of the game. Linebaugh missed the free throw, but Colgate got the rebound and Jeanpierre fouled Linebaugh on his three-point attempt. Linebaugh made all three free throws to make the score 82-81 with 25 seconds remaining.
The Raiders immediately fouled Francis Ebong and after Ebong made one of two, Linebaugh hit a jumper with 13 seconds remaining to tie the game at 83. Navy rushed down the floor in its attempt to win the game in regulation, but Shepard was called for a charging foul with nine seconds left, giving Colgate a chance to win the game. Ebong, though, saved the day for the Mids, blocking Hardy's shot in the paint and sending the game into overtime.
Neither team led by more than two points in the extra session and the game was tied five times. Scott Long put Navy up 93-91 when he made two free throws with 27 seconds left, but Linebaugh came down and made another big jumper to tie the score at 93 with 17 seconds left. Navy held for the last shot and Campolieta fouled Shepard on his drive to the basket with six seconds left. Shepard, who had missed two free throws in overtime earlier this year in Navy's 74-72 loss to Columbia, calmly made both and the Mids held on for their 11th straight win over Colgate when Tuohey missed his three-pointer at the buzzer.
"I didn't want to let the team down again," said Shepard. "Those two missed free throws against Columbia still bother me and I wasn't going to let it happen again. In sports you usually have a chance to redeem yourself and today I did."
Jeanpierre led the Mids with a career-high tying 24 points, making five of his 10 three-point attempts, and handing out seven assists in 42 minutes of action. Lewis, who has been Navy's MVP so far this season, recorded his third straight 20-point game, racking up 23 points and grabbing five rebounds despite playing just 30 minutes because of foul trouble. Long continues to give Navy a lift off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds, while Ebong and Shepard scored 10 points apiece. Ebong grabbed game-high nine rebounds.
Campolieta's 23 points led Colgate, while Sullivan scored 22 points and Linebaugh chipped in 14. Hardy added 12 and Martin Marek 11 for the Raiders.
The Mids will be back in action on Wednesday night when Navy plays host to Lafayette in a 7:30 p.m. tilt at Alumni Hall.
