Nov. 28, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Regional foes Navy and Towson renew their rivalry after an 11-year hiatus on Thursday night at Alumni Hall, beginning at 7:00 pm (ET). The contest will air on WNAV (Annapolis; 1430 AM), WFED (Washington, D.C.; 1050 AM), WBAL (Baltimore; 1090 AM) and SIRIUS Channel 181. The game will also be streamed online as part of Navy All-Access at www.navysports.com. Fans are reminded to bring a hat to donate to the Johns Hopkins Children Center and receive a general admission ticket for just $3. After the game, the team will hold its annual "Meet The Mids" autograph session. The game is being sponsored by Comcast.

NAVY UPDATE
Losers of three straight and six of its last seven games, the Navy men's basketball team hopes that some home cooking does the trick on Thursday night against Towson. Navy has suffered three straight heartbreaking defeats after leading all three games at halftime. The Mids led Seton Hall (Nov. 23), 43-39, at halftime before falling , 79-75. One night later, Navy held a 26-23 advantage at the break, before a late Penn run edged the Mids, 71-67. And on Tuesday night, Navy and Howard were tied at 61 with 1:30 to play, before a 14-4 Bison run deflated Navy, 75-65.

Navy continued to struggle from the field in the loss to Howard, shooting just 21-of-61 (.344), including 8-of-28 (.286) from beyond the arc. The starting five of Greg Sprink, Brian Richards, Ben Biles, Romeo Garcia and Chris Harris managed to shoot just 7-of-26 (.269) from the field for 26 points. If you throw out Sprink's 18 points, the rest of the starting cast tallied just eight points. However, Navy's bench, as it has done all year, picked up the slack, scoring a season-best 39 points on 14-of-35 (.400) shooting. The bench also grabbed 16 of Navy's 30 rebounds and had eight of Navy's 10 assists. Adam Teague was the main contributor for Navy off the bench, tallying 16 points, including four three-point bombs.

Sprink continues to rank among the league leaders in scoring at 19.1 ppg, despite shooting just 45-of-136 (.331) from the field. Kaleo Kina, Teague and Harris are contributing 9.5, 8.8 and 8.3 ppg, respectively. Sprink and freshman Mark Veazey pace the squad in rebounding at 5.1 rpg and Kina leads the team in assists, averaging 3.0 apg. As a team, Navy is shooting just 39.2 percent from the field, 31.5 percent from beyond the arc and 69.6 percent from the free throw line. The Mids are getting outrebounded by over five boards a game, but have committed 19 less turnovers than their foes.

HOWARD LEFTOVERS
• Navy shot under 40.0 percent for the fourth straight game and sixth time in the last seven games. The lone time the Mids shot over 40.0 percent in that span came in a loss to Texas-San Antonio, in which Navy turned the ball over 27 times. Navy scored a season low 65 points against the Bison, and after scoring at least 70 points in the first three games of the year, Navy has reached 70 points just twice in the last five outings.
• Greg Sprink moved past Kylor Whitaker (1983-86) into 12th place on the career scoring list with 1,285 points. He now also ranks 33rd on the Patriot League scoring chart. Sprink has scored in double figures in all eight games.
• Adam Teague tallied 16 points, a team-best five rebounds and a career-high four steals off the bench in the loss to Howard. In the last three games, Teague is averaging 13.7 ppg while shooting 11-of-20 (.550) from three-point range.
• In Navy's six games away from Alumni Hall this year, the Mids have committed 155 fouls (25.8 per game), resulting in 199 free throw attempts (31.2 per game) for the opponents. On the flipside, Navy has shot just 109 free throw attempts (18.2 per game) away from Alumni Hall.
• The loss to Howard ended a six-game winning streak against MEAC teams, dating back to December 1993. Billy Lange was 5-0 against the MEAC before the loss, winning by an average of 14.4 ppg.
• Navy recorded a season-low 11 turnovers against the Bison. It was the fewest turnovers for the Mids since recording 10 against Bucknell on Feb. 2, 2007, a span of 15 games.

PREVIEWING TOWSON
Despite being picked last in the competitive Colonial Athletic Association, Towson has shown early on that it could contend for an upper-division finish. The Tigers enter the game with a 3-2 record, including a 74-52 win over North Carolina Central on Tuesday night at the Towson Center. The Tigers have alternated wins and losses in their five games this year and own an impressive win over Loyola (Md.) in their season opener, 83-69. Following a 71-57 home loss to Bucknell on Nov. 14, Towson responded with a 73-66 win at Samford, which was followed by a 59-57 loss at Vermont on Nov. 24. The Tigers are averaging 68.8 ppg, while allowing 63.4 ppg and are outrebounding foes by over three per game. The Tigers are shooting 41.3 percent from the floor and average just 11.0 turnovers per game.

Head coach Pat Kennedy has started the same lineup for all five games this year, comprising one sophomore, three juniors and one senior. Junior forward Junior Hairston paces the team in both points (16.4) and rebounds (12.8) and tallied 26 points and 21 rebounds against Loyola (Md.). Hairston is shooting 51.5 percent from the field and has blocked 13 shots. Sophomore guard Rodney Spruill follows at 13.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg, while junior guard Rocky Coleman chips in at 9.6 ppg. The remainder of the starting five will likely be junior Tony Durant (8.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and senior guard C.C. Williams (3.2 ppg, 3.8 apg). Durant is the older brother of Seattle Supersonics rookie and 2007 AP National Player of the Year and former Texas standout, Kevin Durant.

Kennedy is in his fourth year at Towson and has the exact same record at Towson that Navy head coach Billy Lange (also in his fourth year) has at Navy. Both are 36-58 at their respective schools. Kennedy, who had success at Florida State before coming to Towson, is 452-369 in his 28th year overall.

SERIES WITH THE TIGERS
Navy is just 1-6 all-time against the Tigers, but the two teams haven't met since a 76-68 Towson victory on Nov. 24, 1996. Michael Heary led Navy with 17 points, while Hassan Booker added 15 points and 10 rebounds in the last meeting. Towson's Ralph Biggs led five Tigers in double figures with 19 points. Towson shot 50.9 percent for the contest, while Navy shot just 36.8 percent. Towson outscored Navy, 38-30, in the second half to break open a tie game (38-38) at halftime.

The Tigers have won three games in a row in the series, with Navy's lone win coming in a 102-88 decision on Dec. 5, 1990, in Towson. The two teams have played in Alumni Hall just once, a 74-60 Towson victory on Nov. 29, 1995.

LANGE AGAINST THE CAA
Towson will be the second CAA team that Navy will play this year, falling at Drexel, 86-70, on Nov. 11. Navy has played just two CAA teams under head coach Billy Lange, defeating William & Mary last year, 78-63. Once a member of the CAA from 1986-91, Navy is 105-82 all-time against the league.

NAVY'S DEFENSE STARTING TO TURN IT ON
Navy's defense struggled early on, but has shown signs of improvement as the year has gone on. The Mids allowed foes to average 82.0 ppg during the first four games of the year, but during the last four contests, foes are averaging 71.2 ppg, an improvement of 10.8 points per outing.
• Navy has limited second-chance points during the same span. In the first four games, foes averaged 14.5 second-chance points compared to 9.2 second-chance points during the last four games.
• Opponents grabbed 55 offensive rebounds during the first four games, but only 46 over the last four outings.
• Foes averaged 19.2 turnovers per game during the first four games, but in the last four games, foes are committing 22.8 turnovers per contest.

BENCH PRODUCTION
Navy's bench has been a strong point early on and if head coach Billy Lange can continue to get strong production from his reserves, it will keep the starters' legs fresh as the season wears on.

So far this year, the group is averaging 32.2 ppg, led by Adam Teague's 8.8 ppg. Kaleo Kina, a starter in the first four games, is averaging 9.0 ppg during his four games off the bench. The group is shooting a combined 98-of-219 (.447) from the field and is averaging 90.1 minutes per game. Navy's bench has outscored its starting five in games against UTSA and Howard.

ATTACKING THE GLASS
Navy has outrebounded three of its last five opponents after being outrebounded in the first three games of the year. Over the last five games, Navy holds a 72-62 advantage on the offensive glass, but is getting outrebounded overall, 208-191. Navy outrebounded just five Division I opponents all of last year.

# GO NAVY #