Box Score | PDF Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Navy men's basketball team (2-7) suffered a 67-60 loss at The Citadel (4-4) on Saturday afternoon at the McAlister Field House. The Citadel's Jake Wright came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points on six 3-pointers.

Navy senior guard Brandon Venturini scored a team-high 18 points, all of which came in the second half. Sophomore forward James Hemphill added nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

After The Citadel took an early 8-4 lead, the Mids countered with a 9-2 run to lead by three points at 13-10. Freshman Shawn Anderson had a putback layup off an offensive rebound, sophomore Zach Fong hit a long jumper and sophomore James Hemphill made three free throws. Sophomore Edward Alade finished a layup off a dish from Fong to cap the run.

The Citadel then answered by making 3-pointers on three of its next four possessions. Wright connected twice and Warren Sledge hit one for the Bulldogs. Junior center Will Kelly made a layup off a feed from Anderson and then Kelly converted an and-one opportunity to cut Navy's halftime deficit to two points at 26-24.

Hemphill came off the bench to tally seven points and seven rebounds in the first half alone.

Venturini came out of the locker room in the second half on fire, scoring Navy's first 12 points of the period. Venturini knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and made three layups as the Mids pulled ahead by two at 36-34.

The Citadel was able to regain the lead and was up 46-45 when Venturini hit a 3-pointer in the left corner. Navy then got a steal and Alade raced down the floor for a breakaway two-handed dunk to go up four at 50-46 with six minutes to go.

A jumper by Fong put Navy ahead 52-48, but The Citadel's Ashton Moore answered with a 3-pointer and then Marshall Harris had a steal and a layup to put the Bulldogs ahead, 53-52 with 4:40 to go. The Citadel pushed its run to 7-0 before junior guard Tilman Dunbar made two free throws.

The Citadel would go ahead 59-54 on a Moore stepback jumper and then Venturini nailed another 3-pointer to pull the Mids within two. The Citadel then scored the next six points before a triple by Fong cut the lead to 65-60, but the Mids could not get any closer.

"I thought we were in pretty good shape at halftime and I thought we were still in pretty good shape with about five minutes to go," said head coach Ed DeChellis. "And then we did some things out of character and we had guys trying to step out of their skin. We bang a three, we get a steal and we're up, but then we turn around and let them do the same thing we just did to them. We are an inexperienced team trying to figure out a way to win."

Navy's bench scored 30 points, while its starting five also accounted for 30. Navy shot 42 percent from the floor but was just 5-of-15 on 3-pointers. The Citadel shot 47 percent from the floor and 41 percent on 3-pointers.

In addition to Wright's 21 points, Moore had 13, P.J. Horgan had 12 and C.J. Bray added 10 for the Bulldogs.

Navy will next host VMI on Tuesday at 7:00 PM in Alumni Hall.