Jan. 28, 2009

Box Score | Photo Gallery

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Garrison Carr's seventh three-pointer of the game with 30.1 seconds left lifted American to a 68-67 victory over the Midshipmen in front of a season-high 2,675 fans at Alumni Hall on Wednesday night. The loss drops Navy's overall record to 14-7 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League. American, last year's defending Patriot League champion, improved to 12-7 overall and 4-1 in league play.

Navy led 67-65 after a Kaleo Kina free throw with 1:43 to play, but Carr, who led all scorers with 28 points, found space at the top of the key after Kina, who was guarding Carr, slipped on a wet spot giving him some space. Carr calmly drilled his seventh three-pointer of the contest to give the Eagles a 68-67 lead with 30.1 seconds left.

"I was thinking when he shot that last shot that I wish I didn't fall," said Kina matter of factly. "You can't give him room or he will make you pay."

"It was a great college basketball game between two good teams in a great atmosphere. I thought the crowd tonight was electric," said Navy head coach Billy Lange. "Someone had to win and someone had to lose. They made the last play and we had the last shot. The game came down to one possession and they made the last play. You have to give them credit."

The game featured the league's top two scorers in Navy's Kina and American's Carr, and the duo did not disappoint. Carr had 16 of American's first-half points, helping the Eagles to a 43-33 halftime lead. Kina had 18 of Navy's 33 first-half points, while shooting 8-of-11 from the field.

The duo combined for 54 points between them (Carr - 28; Kina 26) and shot a combined 20-of-35 (.571) from the field.

Both teams had strong first halves, as the Eagles shot 56.7 percent from the field, while Navy shot 57.7 percent. However, the Eagles took a 43-33 halftime lead, turning the ball over just five times and outrebounding the Mids, 16-10, in the opening 20 minutes. American led just 22-21 with 8:59 to play, but went on a 21-12 run to grab its 10-point halftime lead.

The lead would see-saw between five and eight points for the first eight minutes of the second half, but American went on a quick 7-0 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 57-45 with 10:35 to play, before Navy mounted a comeback.

The Midshipmen embarked on a 19-4 run over 7:25 to take a 64-61 advantage on an Adam Teague three-pointer with 3:30 to play. During the spurt, Navy held American to just 2-of-8 from the field with six turnovers.

After shooting 17-of-30 in the first half with just five turnovers, American went just 9-of-23 in the second half with 13 turnovers.

"I think our defensive attentiveness during the span was outstanding," said Lange. "What I was impressed with tonight was that I felt for the first time since the Mount St. Mary's game (Dec. 9) that we found ourselves with the grit and the guts and our defensive intensity. I didn't feel that it was consistent for the last 50 or so days. We can take a lot out of that tonight.

"I thought in the second half we did a great job," said Lange. "I thought we did a fairly good job on Carr, especially in the second half. We were able to adjust and lock in on him during the second half." Carr was 4-of-4 from three-point range in the first half, but just 3-of-7 in the second half.

However, Derrick Mercer tied the game at 64 on his only three-pointer of the game with 2:30 to play. Navy took a two-point lead on a pair of free throws by Chris Harris with 2:07 to play. Mercer then made one free throw just 10 seconds later.

Navy led 67-65 before Carr's three-pointer with 30.1 seconds left gave the Eagles a one-point lead. Navy had three chances to win the game late, but Harris and Kina missed runners with 12 and seven seconds left, respectively.

After fouling Carr with 3.3 seconds left, he missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Harris' 30-footer at the buzzer rimmed out and American escaped Alumni Hall with a 68-67 decision.

Kina led the Mids with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Kina had scored just 18 points in the last two games, going 4-of-24 from the field against Holy Cross and Army.

"We kind of lost ourselves the last two weeks and we are trying to find out what went wrong and fix it," said Kina. "It's a long season and we want to be the best we can be at the end of the season. We need to figure out a way to get stops, and once we get that, our offense will come around. We just have to get back to work tomorrow and focus on Colgate. We'll be all right."

The Mids shot 26-of-58 (.449) from the field and 7-of-18 (.389) percent from three-point range. Navy was just 8-of-13 (.615) from the free throw line and had 14 turnovers. Navy was outrebounded, 36-29.

Harris had 13 points, while Teague had 11 points. Clif Colbert continued his strong play off the bench with seven points and eight rebounds in just 20 minutes.

American finished the game 26-of-53 (.491) from the field and 10-of-19 (.526) from long distance. The Eagles were 6-of-11 (.545) from the charity stripe and were guilty of 18 turnovers.

Brian Gilmore had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Mercer tallied 12 points with 11 assists.

Navy will close out the first half of league play on Saturday night at Colgate. Tip time is slated for 7:00 pm and the game will be aired by WNAV (1430 AM).

# GO NAVY #