Jan. 7, 2015 Box Score | PDF Box
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's basketball team (6-9, 2-1 PL) had its three-game winning streak snapped by Boston University (7-7, 3-0 PL) in a 70-64 loss at Alumni Hall on Wednesday evening. The Terriers had led by as many as 20 points, but a late Navy rally trimmed the final margin.
Navy senior forward Worth Smith continued his strong play with a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds. Smith, the two-time reigning Patriot League Player of the Week, was 11-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. His 11 field goals were a new career-high.
Although Navy led for the majority of the first half, Boston U. used a 17-4 run that overlapped the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to take a double-digit lead. Boston U. connected on four of its first five 3-pointers to open the second half to go ahead 44-32. Boston U. would make 7-of-11 3-pointers in the second half (64 percent) and was 11-of-20 (55 percent) from outside in the contest.
"I thought they [Boston] played very well," head coach Ed DeChellis said. "We didn't have the toughness or the level of intensity that we needed to have tonight. I didn't think we guarded them very well, but they did shoot the ball extremely well. They got some open shots and knocked them in and they played well. We couldn't get to the free throw line either and they did and they crushed us there."
In addition to Boston's impressive 3-point shooting, the Terriers made the most of its trips to the free throw line by going 23-of-29 (79 percent). Conversely, Navy was just 7-of-13 at the free throw line.
The Terriers would take its largest lead of the game with 6:20 remaining with a 20-point margin at 64-44, but Navy fought back to cut Boston's lead to just five at 68-63 with 36.5 seconds remaining after Smith drilled a 3-pointer.
Navy had a 14-0 spurt over five minutes late in the game that saw the Mids trim the score from 64-44 to 64-58. Junior Will Kelly made two buckets inside while senior guard Brandon Venturini and Smith connected on 3-pointers and Navy locked down on the defensive end.
After Navy cut the lead to five on Smith's 3-pointer, Boston's Eric Fanning made two free throws to extend the lead to seven. Navy ended up with the ball under its own hoop and junior point guard Tilman Dunbar inbounded the ball off the back of a Terrier defender and then was fouled with 10 seconds left. Dunbar made the first free throw but missed the second. Navy got the offensive rebound, but missed two 3-pointers in the final seconds and the game ended at 70-64.
Boston's Cedric Hankerson scored a team-high 21 points and was 5-of-8 on 3-pointers. Justin Alston added 17 points and was 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Nathan Dieudonne was 3-of-3 on 3-pointers for 14 points to go along with his 12 rebounds and Eric Fanning was a fourth Terrier in double figures with 11 points.
Smith led Navy in scoring for the fourth straight game since returning from a knee injury. After missing 10 games, Smith is averaging 20.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in the last four games.
Venturini made four 3-pointers and had 14 points overall with six assists and three steals. Dunbar had a season-high nine assists to help Navy post 20 assists overall against just nine turnovers.
Boston U. and Colgate are the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the league at 3-0. Boston U. is the defending Patriot League Regular Season Champion.
Navy will next play at Army on Saturday at 12 noon. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.