1/7/2002 - Men's Basketball
Nationally-Ranked Wake Forest Cruises Past Navy, 87-65
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Using an inside-outside punch, nationally-ranked Wake Forest (12-3) handed Navy (5-10) just its second loss at home this year, an 87-65 loss at Alumni Hall. The Demon Deacons shot 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from long range, while out-scoring the Mids 32-22 in the paint to collect their second-consecutive win and 12th of the season. Wake's 12 three-pointers tied the Navy record for most three-pointers made by an opposing team (Holy Cross, 1/27/93 and Michigan, 3/12/87).
"I'm happy to get on a plane tomorrow with a win," reflected Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser. "Navy played incredibly hard, as you would expect."
"This was probably the best 20 minutes of basketball we've played against Wake Forest in terms of our second half tonight," said Navy head coach Don DeVoe. "We were out-manned at every position and they are just a superior team to us."
Despite being out-scored 20-6 in the paint in the first half, Navy held Wake Forest to a single-digit lead throughout a good deal of the first stanza. The Mids narrowed it to eight points, 25-33, following a Francis Ebong (Omaha, Neb.) lay-up with 2:01 to go in the half, but Wake Forest scored the last four points of the half to take a 37-25 lead into the locker room.
The Demon Deacons went on a 13-4 run to open the second half that include three of Craig Dawson's game-high seven triples. With Wake Forest owning a 21-point lead three different times by the 12:57 mark, Navy made its own run. The Midshipmen out-scored Wake Forest, 13-3, and narrowed the deficit to 11 points (58-47) with 9:54 to go in the half.
Wake Forest, though, sparked by back-to-back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Taron Downey and Dawson triggered a Deacon run that put them up by 24 with 4:08 to go in the game and Navy was unable to recover.
Wake's Dawson led all scorers with 21 points which included a 7-for-11 performance from long range. His seven three-pointers tied for the third-most three-pointers made by a Navy opponent all-time. He added a game-high six assists. Senior forward Darius Songaila produced his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman guard Downey tallied 15 points on a 6-for-8 effort from the field.
Senior Jehiel Lewis (Houston, Texas) was the lone Midshipman in double figures, scoring 14 points and posting a team-high four steals. Fellow senior Demond Shepard (Albany, N.Y.) scored nine points, Ebong had seven, while freshman guard Taj Mathews (Mercer Island, Wash.) came off the bench to pitch in seven points and a pair of assists.
Navy returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to Massachusetts to open Patriot League play against the defending league champions, Holy Cross. Action is slated for 7 p.m. and can be heard live on WNAV 1430.
G-o N-a-v-y
