Nov. 18, 2006
Navy hits the road again as it takes on Stony Brook on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 2:00 p.m., in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Mids are coming off an impressive 70-47 win over Brown last Tuesday night and enter the contest with a 2-1 overall mark. It will be the last game before Navy's home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 21, against Maryland-Eastern Shore at Alumni Hall. Stony Brook is 2-1 after Friday night's 59-51 at Penn State. The Seawolves have been competitive in every game, defeating Patriot League member Colgate, while losing to a good Cornell team, 76-72, a week ago. The Seawolves were just 4-24 a year ago, but second-year head Steve Pikiell has injected new life into the program.
Looking Back
The Navy men's basketball team improved to 2-1 last Tuesday night with a convincing 70-47 victory over Brown. The Mids shot a sizzling .667 percent in the first half, and cruised home to the 23-point victory.
The story of the game was Navy's outside shooting. The Mids jumped out to a 38-21 halftime advantage on the strength of an 8-of-15 performance behind the three-point arc. Included in that total was a 40-foot heave from freshman Chris Harris that banked in just before the intermission buzzer to push the lead to 38-21. The Mids connected on all six of their two-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.
Navy put any Brown comeback hopes to rest in the first four minutes of the second half, scoring the first seven points and holding Brown without a field goal for the first 7:25 of the half, breezing home with a 70-47 decision.
Navy did cool down in the second half, connecting on 11-of-25 shots, but still managed to shoot a season-best .543 from the field.
The Navy defense also did the job, holding Brown without a field goal for different stretches of 10:32, 7:35 and 5:37. The Bears opened the game 1-of-11, while Navy started 6-of-6. For the game, Brown shot just .333 percent (13-of-39). The Bears did most of their damage from the free throw line, shooting 19-of-30.
Freshman Trey Stanton led the way for Navy with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Kaleo Kina and Greg Sprink added 10. Harris chipped in with nine and Corey Johnson continued his standout season with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Stony Brook Tidbits
Stony Brook enters Sunday's contest with a 2-1 record after a 59-51 victory at Penn State. The Seawolves already own a victory over a Patriot League foe, as it dealt Colgate a 65-59 loss in the season opener for both teams. The Seawolves' other game resulted in a 76-72 loss at a good Cornell squad.
Stony Brook was 4-24 last year, but welcomed back nine returning letterwinners off that team, and second-year head coach Steve Pikiell has instilled a new confidence in his squad.
Leading the charge is a pair of junior guards in Mitchell Beauford and Ricky Lucas. The duo has combined to score 42.4 ppg, led by Beauford's 21.7 per outing. In all three games, both Beauford and Lucas have scored at least 20 points each, including 43 of the 59 against Penn State.
Mike Popoko contributes 6.7 ppg and Emanuel Neto paces the Seawolves at 7.0 rpg. Beauford also distributes 2.3 apg.
As a team, the Seawolves are averaging 65.3 ppg, while allowing 62.0 ppg, and are even on the boards (32.3). Stony Brook shoots .438 from the field and .750 from the line, while foes are shooting .414 from the field, including .306 from three-point range. Stony Brook has taken good care of the ball, averaging just 14.0 turnovers in three games, and has forced 16.3 turnovers per game.
# GO NAVY #
