12/29/2002 - Men's Basketball
Midshipmen Look To Close Out 2002 With A Win

Game 12 Navy At Mount St. Mary?s

Monday, Dec. 30, 2002 - Knott Arena (3,196) - Emmitsburg, Md. - 7:30 p.m. EST Tip-Off

Radio: 1430 WNAV (Bob Socci)

TV: None

Series History: Navy leads, 5-2

Navy Coach Don DeVoe: DeVoe (Ohio State ?64) owns a 175-125 record in 11 seasons at Navy. In now his 30th year as a collegiate head coach, he has produced a 503-353 mark.

Navy (4-7) Lineup

# Pos. Player PPG RPG

23 F Francis Ebong, Sr., 6-8, 233 10.5 7.5

30 F Scott Long, Sr., 6-6, 225 9.6 6.5

54 C Mitch Moore, Sr., 6-9, 220 7.3 4.4

12 G Jason Jeanpierre, Sr., 6-3, 195 13.5 2.8

33 G Marcell Cummings, So., 6-3, 195 9.8 2.3

Mount St. Mary?s Coach Jim Phelan: Phelan (La Salle ?51) has posted a 823-511 record in 49 years as a collegiate head coach, all of which he has spent at Mount St. Mary?s.

Mount St. Mary?s (4-3) Lineup

# Pos. Player PPG RPG

11 F Pat Atangana, Jr., 6-6, 210 12.6 6.1

40 F Jason Epps, So., 6-8, 230 1.7 1.9

5 G Landy Thompson, Fr., 6-1, 178 14.9 2.4

12 G Chris Sumner, Fr., 6-1, 165 5.9 1.4

30 G Jamion Christian, Jr., 6-2, 170 10.7 3.3

Mids Look To Snap Losing Streak

The Mids will look to build upon their eight-point win over Eastern Michigan when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md., Monday evening to face Mount St. Mary?s. Navy last played Saturday afternoon, while the Mountaineers haven?t played since Dec. 15 when they defeated Loyola, 58-55. Monday?s action is slated to tip at 7:30 p.m.

Navy-Mount St. Mary?s Series History

The Mids and Mountaineers meet for the eighth time in the series, but just the second time in the last decade. The two teams met four times between 1987 and 1990, but didn?t rekindle the series until last year when Navy captured a 95-54 victory over Mount St. Mary?s in Annapolis.

Navy owns a 5-2 series advantage, however, the series is split in games played in Mountaineer territory. The Mids won the initial game, 80-75, N28, 1987. MSM claimed an 88-78 victory in the second meeting in Emmitsburg, J22, 1990.

Navy Leads, 5-2

Home ? 2-1; Road ? 1-1; Unknown ? 2-0

J11, 19 W 43-8 Site Unknown

1919-20 W 31-15 Site Unknown

N28, 87 W 80-75 Emmitsburg

N28, 88 L 83-54 Annapolis

J22, 90 L 88-78 Emmitsburg

N26, 90 W 116-98 Annapolis

D30, 01 W 95-54 Annapolis

Last Time Out...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (D30, 01) ? Navy shot a season-high 56.7 percent from the field, while its stifling defense held Mount St. Mary?s to 26.7 percent en route to a 95-54 victory over The Mount. The 41-point win was Navy?s biggest triumph since handing Colgate a 42-point loss (93-51) Feb. 8, 1995.

Navy center Francis Ebong scored the game?s first-two buckets, however a pair of free throws by Angel Rivera followed by a three-pointer by Jamion Christian gave Mount St. Mary?s its only lead of the game at 5-4 with two minutes gone in the first half. Navy recaptured the lead on a Jamie Nero triple, but the score was knotted up twice more before the Mids went on a 15-3 run (25-13) capped off by a Jehiel Lewis three-pointer with 9:37 to go in the half. Lewis scored nine of Navy?s 15 points during the run ? all three-pointers. The Mids went on to score the final five points of the half, including a last-second shot by Jeff Charles to hold a 48-30 halftime lead.

The Mids increased their lead to 24 early in the second half, as Lewis hit his career-high tying fourth triple. Navy, who scored 20 of his 48 first-half points and 18 of its 47 second-half points in the paint, complemented their inside game with a strong outside plan. It canned eight of its 17 triples for a season-best 47.1 percent.

Navy closed out the game on a 20-6 run, including 11-1 in the last 3:44.

DeVoe played everyone on his bench, including forward Scott Long who has been sidelined the entire year with a lower back injury. He scored four points, grabbed a rebound and a steal in six minutes of action.

Lewis led the Mids with 17 points on 5-for-8 field goal shooting, including 4-for-5 from long range. Ebong was 5-for-5 en route to his 12-point effort, while forward Kyle Barker added 11 points. Junior guard Jason Jeanpierre dealt out a career-high six assists and snatched a season-high four steals.

Jerry Lloyd led The Mount with nine points and three steals, while Pat Atangana came off the bench to pitch in eight points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Mount St. Mary?s Overview

In his 49th year as not only a collegiate coach, but as the coach of the Mountaineers, Jim Phelan has gotten his Mount St. Mary?s squad off to a respectable 4-3 mark. The Mount has already reeled off one more win than they had all of 2001-02.

After dropping its first-two contests, including an 84-60 loss to N.C. State in the opener, Mount St. Mary?s regrouped to win two in a row. The Mount picked up wins over Columbia (57-48) and New Hampshire (70-68).

MSM was tripped up by league foe UMBC, 68-53, to snap its winning streak, however, the Mount enters Monday?s game against the Mids having won their last-two contests ? 77-63 win at Duquesne and 58-55 victory at Loyola.

Road Warriors

Mount St. Mary?s has played six of its seven games on the road. It gets worse, however, as it goes on to play 10 of its first-12 outings away from Knott Arena. If the Mount can survive that stretch, beginning Jan. 18, they will play nine of their final-15 games at home. On a side note, MSM?s upcoming road sked isn?t filled with patsies. Instead, it packs for a trip to Texas following the Navy game to face Big 12 powers Texas and Baylor Jan. 5 and 7th.

Diaper Dandies

Phelan?s Mount squad features five freshmen, with four of those five seeing significant playing time. The ?New Kids On The Block? have generated 49 percent of MSM?s offense. Two of those rookies ? Landy Thompson and Chris Sumner ? are in the starting lineup. Thompson owns a team-high 14.9 scoring average, shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 47.2 percent from long range. He owns a team-best 17 triples as the only player to record double-digit three-pointers this year.

Sumner is dishing out a team-high 4.1 assists per game and has pocketed a team-high tying 13 steals. In addition, he is averaging 5.9 points.

The other freshmen to keep an eye on are 6-7 forward Kiel Butler (4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and 6-5 forward Charles Cook (5.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg). All four of the aforementioned first-year players hail from the state of Maryland.

Navy-Eastern Michigan Recap

Navy senior Scott Long scored 25 of his career-high 31 points in the second half to lead the Mids to an 89-81 triumph over Eastern Michigan Saturday at Alumni Hall. It was Navy?s first victory in four games and first win over a Division I opponent since its 57-51 victory over The Citadel in the second game of the season, Nov. 25.

EMU led for the opening-nine minutes before the Mids took their first lead, 20-17, on an old-fashioned three-point play by sophomore guard Marcell Cummings. The Eagles, though, went on a 16-6 run over the next-six minutes to take a 26-33.

The lead changed hands three times in the final-two minutes and was knotted four times before a triple by EMU?s Ricky Cottrill at the buzzer gave the Eagles a 43-40 lead going into the locker room.

Cummings started the third run of the day by the Mids on a triple and Navy rushed out to a 10-point, 61-51 lead with 12:13 to go in the game. EMU answered with three three-pointers by three different players.

EMU was down just two points with 1:06 to go in the game, but it was whistled for five fouls and Navy made seven of its eight free throws to capture their fourth win of the season.

Navy shot 47.6 percent from the field, though the real story was its 85.7 percent free throw shooting. The Mids missed just two free throws in the second half (23-for-25, .92) and made 24 of their 28 for the contest.

K...for a full recap, turn to page 16...K

The Icons ? DeVoe vs. Phelan

Monday?s contest is as much about the coaches as it is about the players. It?s a game that pitts two of the best masterminds in the history of the game against one another. Between the two, they have a combined 60 years of coaching and a 1326-864 (60.5) record. That?s over 2,000 games coached. Perhaps more impressive is the fact that Don DeVoe has coached just 33 more games than Phelan has won.

The following paints a clearer picture of what these two men have accomplished.

Coach Career Record School Record

Phelan 49 Yrs. 823-511 49 Yrs. 823-511

DeVoe 30 Yrs. 503-353 11 Yrs. 175-125

Winningest All-Time Coaches

? by Wins

3. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 823

60. Don DeVoe, Navy 503

Winningest Active Coaches

? by Wins

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 823

18. Don DeVoe, Navy 503

Games Coached (Active)

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 1334

13. Don DeVoe, Navy 856

Seasons Coached (Active)

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 49

11. Don DeVoe, Navy 30

Road Woes

Navy is still searching for its first road win of the 2002-03 campaign. The Mids have lost five in a row dating back to last year, not counting their neutral site loss to Holy Cross in last year?s Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals.

Over the last five years, Navy has posted a 23-30 (.434) record on the road versus a 50-17 (.746) mark at home. Last season, Don DeVoe?s Mids recorded one of its worst records away from home in recent memory at 2-10 and 0-4 in neutral site contests. It lost six of its final-eight road games, including back-to-back road contests at Lafayette and Army to conclude the season.

Year Home Road Neutral

1998-99 12-2 6-4 1-1

1999-00 15-2 7-4 1-0

2000-01 11-3 8-9 0-0

2001-02 8-6 2-10 0-4

2002-03 4-4 0-3 0-0

Total 50-17 23-30 2-5

Upcoming Milestones

Several Mids are on the verge of hitting milestone scoring and rebounding marks.

Senior forward Francis Ebong eclipsed the 600-point mark with a 20-point effort against Rice last Monday. Thanks to back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts he has drawn within 36 boards of hitting the 500-rebound plateau.

Team captain Jason Jeanpierre pushed past the 200-assist mark with a four-assist afternoon against Eastern Michigan.

Coming off a career-high 31-point performance against EMU, senior forward Scott Long needs eight points to score his 500th-career point.

Scoring Pt. Total Pts. Needed for

Jason Jeanpierre 767 33 800

Scott Long 492 8 500

Quintrell McCreary 158 42 200

Jeff Charles 94 6 100

Kwame Ofori 69 31 100

Rebounding Reb. Total Reb. Needed for

Francis Ebong 464 36 500

Scott Long 278 22 300

Jason Jeanpierre 185 15 200

Nonleague Ledger

Navy has posted a 74-77 (.490) record against non-Patriot League opponents under Don DeVoe. Though in his first season he guided Navy to a 3-9 nonleague mark, he has led it to eight or more nonconference victories in four of the last seven seasons.

Navy?s Year-By-Year NonLeague Record Under DeVoe

Year W L Pct.

1992-93 3 9 25.0

1993-94 5 8 38.5

1994-95 8 4 66.7

1995-96 6 8 42.9

1996-97 8 7 53.3

1997-98 6 9 66.7

1998-99 11 3 78.6

1999-00 10 4 71.4

2000-01 8 8 50.0

2001-02 5 10 33.3

2002-03 4 7 36.4

Overall 74 77 49.0

31-Point Difference Maker

Six of the Mids? seven losses have been by eight points or less, including four by five points or less. Prior to Navy?s loss against Rice last Monday night, the largest margin of defeat was an eight-point decision (69-61) to a Davidson squad whose losses this year are to top-ranked Duke and No. 4 Arizona. Meanwhile, the slimmest margin of defeat this season was a two-point mark (54-52) Friday at Ohio.

N27 Davidson 8 pts.

D2 Belmont 7 pts.

N30 Brown 5 pts.

D4 Johns Hopkins 5 pts.

D7 Coastal Carolina 4 pts.

D20 Ohio 2 pts.

30-Point Club

With a near-flawless effort against Eastern Michigan Saturday, Scott Long became just the 20th player in Navy history to score 30-plus points. Eight of the 20 players, led by David Robinson, scored 30-plus points multiple times in their careers.

Long is the first Navy player since Kyle Barker last season to score 30 or more points in a game. Barker, who is Long?s roommate at the Academy, scored 31 points at Davidson in a losing effort, D1, 02.

Long, whose previous high was 16 points against Ohio just a week ago, was 8-for-13 from the field, including a triple, while hitting 14 of his 15 free throws.

Lackluster Scoring

Don DeVoe?s teams have long been known to have a well-balanced attack. Since the 1994-95 season, Navy is 113-21 (.843) when it scores at least 70 points in a game and 37-72 (.339) when it doesn?t.

While Navy broke out for 92 points against Brown (N30), Navy had gone six games (dating back to last season) without scoring 70 points. In fact, Navy has scored 70 points in just five of its last-21 games, and only three times this year.

The Mids? 52 points at Ohio (D20) marked the worst scoring output since mustering just 41 points against Holy Cross in last year?s Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal meeting.

The Achilles Heel

Navy?s Achilles heel this year has been its free throw shooting. The Mids rank No. 250 out of 327 teams with their dismal 64.6 percentage. Navy, though, drastically improved its percentage (up 41 spots) with an impressive 85.7 percent effort against EMU Saturday. The Mids hit 24 of their 28 shots.

Meanwhile, the Mids are ranked 234th in turnovers, as they are averaging 17.3 TOs per outing. Don DeVoe called it a revelation, but Navy turned the ball over a season-low 12 times against EMU. It helped bump the Mids up 24 spots.

Triple threat

With five three-pointers against Brown (N30), senior guard Jason Jeanpierre recorded his 100th-career three-pointer. He is just the sixth player in Navy history to make 100 three-pointers in a career.

He ranks sixth on the Navy all-time three-point field goals made list with 117, trailing Michael Burd?s (1990-93) fifth-place mark of 121 by just gout. Eleven games into the season, he has connected on 26 triples, accounting for 52.7 percent of his team-high13.5 scoring average.

Navy?s Career Three-Point FG Made List

1. 201 Michael Heary, 1994-98

2. 138 Jim Hamilton, 1992-96

3. 136 Joe Gottschalk, 1987-90

4. 123 Erik Harris, 1987-91

5. 121 Michael Burd, 1990-93

6. 117 Jason Jeanpierre, 2000-present

Finding The Right Lineup

Navy has utilized five different starting combinations this season, but has settled on one lineup over the last-four contests. Captain Jason Jeanpierre is the only player to start all 11 games. Last year, Navy put 12 different lineups (30 games) on the court, including changing lineups in the last-nine outings.

K...for a breakdown of the lineups, turn to page 12...K

Hooper Named Rookie of the Week

Navy freshman guard David Hooper was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week last Monday. It is the first time this season a Navy player has garnered weekly honors from the Patriot League. Hooper is also the first Navy player to garner league rookie-of-the week recognition since team captain Jason Jeanpierre earned the honor Feb. 28, 2000 ? the final week of regular-season competition.

Hooper produced eight points and a career-high five rebounds in the Mids? two-point loss at Ohio (D20). The rookie came off the bench to play a key role, seeing a season-best 23 minutes against the Bobcats. Hooper knocked down a pair of three-pointers and his third, what could have been the game winner, just rimmed off.

Don DeVoe (Ohio State ?64) is in his 11th season at the helm of the Navy basketball program. During his tenure in annapolis, he has amassed a 175-125 (.583) mark. In the process, the Mids have not only captured at least a share of five Patriot League regular-season titles and three tournament crowns, but they have also advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times. After a record-breaking 1999-00 campaign, DeVoe was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year.

One of only 29 active coaches in college basketball to lead three different teams to the NCAA Tournament, DeVoe has compiled a career record of 503-353 (.588) in now his 30th season. He claimed his 500th-career victory in the Mids? season opener N22 in a 68-56 triumph over UCF. He is just the 17th active coach to achieve 500 wins and the 59th of all-time.

DeVoe?s teams have certainly established a well-balanced attack over the years. Since the 1994-95 season, Navy is 113-21 (.843) when it scores at least 70 points in a game and 37-72 (.339) when it doesn?t score at least 70 points in a contest.

Prior to his arrival at the Naval Academy, DeVoe served as the head coach at Virginia Tech, Wyoming, Tennessee and florida. he began his coaching career as an assistant to Bob Knight at Army in 1965.

Several of DeVoe?s former players and assistant coaches have moved on to become Division I head coaches. Tom Asbury (Pepperdine and Kansas State), Allan Bristow (Charlotte Hornets and Richmond Rhythm), Coleman Crawford (Akron), Emmett Davis (Colgate), Tom Deaton (Tennessee Tech), Jim Hallihan (East Tennessee State), Mack McCarthy (Tennessee-Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth), Sonny Smith (Virginia Commonwealth and Auburn) and Charlie Thomas (San Francisco State) all either worked or played for DeVoe.

DeVoe is married to the former Ana Garcia and have three children ? Donna Lee Roberts, Elliott Dean and Ana Lise.

DeVoe In The NCAA Coaching Record Book

Winningest All-Time Coaches

? by Wins

1. Dean Smith (Ret.) 879

55. Hec Edmundson (Ret.) 508

56. Cliff Ellis, Auburn 507

57. Bob Huggins, Cincinnati 506

58. Homer Drew (Ret.) 505

59. Harold Anderson (Ret.) 504

60. Don DeVoe, Navy 503

61. Mike Montgomery, Stanford 501

Winningest Active Coaches

? by Wins

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 823

15. Rollie Massimino, Cleveland State 512

16. Cliff Ellis, Auburn 507

17. Bob Huggins, Cincinnati 506

18. Don DeVoe, Navy 503

19. Mike Montgomery, Stanford 501

Games Coached (Active)

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 1334

12. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 871

13. Don DeVoe, Navy 856

14. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 851

Seasons Coached (Active)

1. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary?s 49

8. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut 31

John Chaney, Temple 31

Ben Jobe, Southern 31

11. Don DeVoe, Navy 30

Rollie Massimino, Cleveland State 30

Lute Olson, Arizona 30

Most 20-Win Seasons (Active)

1. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 24

Bob Knight, Texas Tech 24

Lute Olson, Arizona 24

15. Gary Williams, Maryland 13

Roy Williams, Kansas 13

17. Don DeVoe, Navy 12

Rick Majerus, Utah 12

19. Danny Nee, Duquesne 11

Charlie Spoonhour, UNLV 11

Mids Picked Fifth In League

The Patriot League?s coaches and sports information directors have picked Navy to finish fifth according to the 2002-03 Preseason Patriot League Men?s Basketball Poll.

Patriot League Tournament winner Holy Cross picked up 12 of the 16 first-place votes to pace the field, while regular-season champion American was picked to finish second. Colgate and Bucknell, two of the most improved teams over the last two seasons, came in third and fourth, respectively. Despite its seventh-place finish a year ago, Navy was picked fifth, as Lafayette, Lehigh and Army rounded out the field of eight.

2002-03 Patriot League Men?s Basketball Preseason Poll

School Pts. ?02 ?02 PL Record Record

1. Holy Cross (12) 96 18-15 9-5

2. American (2) 79 18-12 10-4

3. Colgate (1) 66 17-11 8-6

4. Bucknell (1) 62 13-16 8-6

5. Navy 57 10-20 5-9

6. Lafayette 44 15-14 8-6

7. Lehigh 26 5-23 2-12

8. Army 18 12-16 6-8

(#) ? first-place votes