1/23/2002 - Men's Basketball
Mids Lose To Lafayette Despite Barker's Seven Three-Pointers
Links associated with this release:
0
0
0
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy forward Kyle Barker (Lyons, Mich.) put on a shooting display at Alumni Hall Wednesday night, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers, but his 23 points weren't enough to stop a hot-shooting Lafayette team, as the Mids dropped a 92-79 decision to the Leopards in Annapolis.
"I give Lafayette tremendous credit," said Navy head coach Don DeVoe. "Their whole team is just fantastic. They are really great at running their patterns. We were unable to generate any offense with our defense and that's the bottom line. "
Lafayette out-scored the Midshipmen 20-4 in the first six minutes of the game with its back-door cuts and long shots of screens. Navy whittled the deficit back down to single digits by the 8:42 mark on a pair of free throws by senior swing man Jehiel Lewis (Houston, Texas). But it was Barker's three-point shooting that got the Mids back into the game. Despite experiencing a shooting slump over the last few games, Barker connected on four three-pointers in four minutes to get the Midshipmen within four with 3:28 left on the clock. A tired Lafayette squad fouled in the waning minutes of the first half, sending the Mids to the line. Free throws by Jason Jeanpierre (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Quintrell McCreary (Atlanta, Ga.) and Scott Long (Newbury Park, Calif.) knotted the score at 38-38 with 1:30 to go. The two teams traded baskets in the final minute, including a tip-in by Lewis, sending the team to the locker room deadlocked at 40 each.
The second half began much like the first half with Lafayette extending its lead to 14 by the 15:29 mark. Senior guard Brian Burke dealt out eight of his team-high 11 assists in the first half, but in the second stanza he had the hot hand, scoring the Leopards' first five points.
Though Barker went on to hit three more triples in the second half and even cut the deficit to single digits once again, Lafayette continued to run its patterns and hit its shot. In fact, Lafayette shot 78.3 percent (18-for-23) in the second half and 68.0 percent (34-for-50) for the game. It was the fourth-best shooting percentage against the Midshipmen in the history of Navy basketball.
"They (Lafayette) were methodical," said Lewis. "They did what they wanted to do. It's no secret they are a good team. They took it to us tonight."
Navy, meanwhile, hit just 39.6 percent (21-for-53) of its shots, and for the third time this season surrendered 90-plus points in a game.
Lafayette forward Mike Farrell led the Leopards with 22 points, hitting 8-for-10 from the field and 6-for-9 from the charity stripe. Burke finished with 18 points and 11 assists, while Justin DeBerry added 17 points, including a trio of triples.
For the Midshipmen, Barker scored a team-high 23 points. His seven three-pointers were the most by a Navy player since Michael Heary dropped in seven against Holy Cross in 1997. Seven three-pointers ties for second on the all-time three-point field goals made list. Long came off the bench to scored 10 points and grab a team-high tying six boards and starting point guard Demond Shepard (Albany, N.Y.)was 6-for-6 from the free throw line en route to his 10-point effort.
Navy and Lafayette are now in a four-way tie for second in the Patriot League with 3-2 records, while American owns a 4-1 mark to lead the league. Rounding out the league standings are Holy Cross (2-3) in sixth and Lehigh and Colgate both own 1-4 records to tie for seventh.
The Midshipmen return to action Saturday when they play host to arch rival Army at 12-noon. The game can be heard live on 1430 WNAV and may be seen live on Metro Channel One (New York City), Empire Sports Network (Western New York area) and around the world on Armed Forces Radio and Television. WFMZ-TV in Bethlehem, Pa. will air the game at 4 p.m., while Comcast SportsNet (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina) will air the game on Sunday at 12 noon. The game will also be available via satellite at AMC 3, Transponder 18.
G-o N-a-v-y
