Nov. 26, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's basketball hits the road for its third straight game with a 7:00 pm Tuesday contest at Howard. The Mids are 2-5 overall after dropping a pair of heartbreakers in the Philly Hoop Group Classic over the weekend. Howard enters the contest with a 2-4 overall mark.

SERIES HISTORY
Navy leads the all-time series with the Bison, 2-0, defeating Howard in each of the last two years. Navy topped Howard a year ago in Annapolis, 79-75 in two overtimes, while winning in 2005-06, 82-73, as part of the BB&T Classic at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING
Navy escaped Howard, 79-75, in two overtimes on Dec. 4, 2006. The Mids went 24-of-32 from the free throw line, including 18-of-24 in the two overtime sessions to defeat the Bison. Kaleo Kina led five Navy players in double figures with 20 points and Greg Sprink added 15 points and nine rebounds. Howard's Darryl Hudson scored 26 points with 13 rebounds in a losing effort.

ABOUT HOWARD
Howard enters the contest with a 2-4 overall mark after falling to Robert Morris, 72-53, on Saturday. The Bison are averaging 62.0 ppg and are giving up 82.3. Howard's opponents are shooting 48.3 percent against them and the Bison have been outrebounded by 11.8 per game.

Eugune Myatt leads the Bison, who have been decimated by injuries, at 20.0 ppg, including a 36-point performance against Penn. Kyle Riley, who is questionable for the game, is averaging 10.0 ppg. Adam Walker leads the squad in rebounds (5.3 rpg), while Curtis White paces the team with 15 (2.5 apg) assists.

ON THIS DATE
Navy is 6-3 all-time on November 27.
• 2005 -- Air Force 64, Navy 55
• 2002 -- Davidson 69, Navy 61
• 2000 -- Navy 71, Coast Guard 56
• 1999 -- Navy 93, Air Force 78
• 1993 -- Navy 77, Air Force 63
• 1984 -- Navy 87, Gettysburg 53
• 1981 -- Navy 63, Virginia Military 37
• 1977 -- Georgetown 71, Navy 56
• 1976 -- Navy 50, Dartmouth 43

NAVY AGAINST THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Tuesday's contest marks the 162nd meeting against a team from the District of Columbia. Navy has played American 65 times, Georgetown 55 times, George Washington 39 times and Howard twice.
• Head coach Billy Lange is 3-8 while at Navy against District of Columbia teams. He is 1-6 against American, 0-2 against Georgetown and 2-0 against Howard.

NAVY AGAINST THE MEAC
Navy owns a 7-1 all-time record against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Navy is 2-0 against Howard, 2-0 against Morgan State and 3-1 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
• Navy has defeated the league six straight times, dating back to a 82-71 loss to Md.-Eastern Shore on Dec. 11, 1993.
• Head coach Billy Lange is 5-0 while at Navy against the MEAC, winning by an average of 14.4 ppg.

PENN RECAP
For the second straight game against a high-profile opponent, Navy couldn't hold a second-half lead, falling to Penn, 71-67 in the Philly Hoop Group Classic held at the historic Palestra on Saturday night.

The two teams played with very little energy early on after playing power-conference teams on Friday night. The Mids would open up an eight-point lead (21-13) with 4:23 to play in the first half, but the Quakers closed the half on a 10-5 run to cut the Navy halftime lead to 26-23. The two teams combined to make just 17-of-58 (.293) shots, including just 1-of-16 (.063) three-point tries in the opening 20 minutes.

Penn then continued its run, outscoring the Mids, 14-2, over the first five minutes of the second half to grab its largest lead at 37-28. Navy, however, didn't fold and went on a 12-0 run of its own to take a 47-42 advantage with 8:01 to play.

The lead see-sawed back and forth until Penn took the lead for good thanks to a quick 6-0 run over 29 seconds that gave the Quakers a 60-55 advantage. Penn would then connect on 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch for the 71-67 victory.

Greg Sprink led Navy with 22 points on a dismal night shooting (6-of-24). Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris added 12 and 11, respectively. Navy shot just 30.6 percent (22-of-72) from the field and committed 18 turnovers in the loss. Penn was 19-of-46 from the field and 30-of-42 from the stripe.

NAVY-PENN POST-GAME NOTES
• After recording 13 straight wins when leading at halftime, Navy lost both of its games over the weekend after leading at halftime. Navy led Seton Hall, 43-39, at the break, before losing 79-75. Navy led Penn, 26-23, at halftime, before falling 71-67.
• Navy's opponents feasted on the charity stripe over the weekend, attempting 82 free throws, connecting on 53 of them. The Mids were 30-of-42 from the free throw line. Navy committed 57 fouls during the two games, while foes were whistled just 38 times.
• Including an 86-73 loss to Penn at the Palestra on Dec. 2, 2005, Navy's last three opponents (Penn twice and Seton Hall once) at the arena went 92-of-137 from the free throw line, averaging 45.7 free throw attempts a game.
• Greg Sprink scored 20 or more points for the second straight game, with a 22-point effort against Penn. With the performance, he now has 22 career 20-point games.
• As a team, Navy recorded season highs in field goal attempts (72), offensive rebounds (16), total rebounds (44), personal fouls (32) and blocked shots (4). Navy recorded season lows in points (67), field goals made (22), field goal percentage (.306), three-point percentage (.179) and assists (8).
Career-high set against Penn:
-- Greg Sprink: 24 field goal attempts
-- Greg Sprink: 12 three-point attempts
-- Chris Harris: 3 steals
-- Scott Brooks: 1 blocked shot
-- Jeremy Wilson: 2 rebounds
-- Mark Veazey: 3 blocked shots

# GO NAVY #