Jan. 13, 2016
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's basketball team (13-5, 4-1 PL) rallied for a 60-52 win over Loyola (4-12, 3-2 PL) on Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall. The Mids trailed by eight points in the second half but used a 13-0 run to retake the lead and then grinded out its fourth straight conference victory.
"We didn't play very well offensively, but I thought defensively we played pretty well," said head coach Ed DeChellis. "We made our free throws down the stretch and we were able to steal a win, but it wasn't pretty."
At 4-1 in the Patriot League, Navy moves into sole possession of second place behind Bucknell (5-0) and the Mids are off to their best start to league play since 2001. Navy's four-game winning streak is the program's longest in league play since 2008 and the Mids have already matched last season's win total of 13 (13-19 overall in 2014-15).
"I don't think this team has reached its potential yet," said DeChellis. "I don't think we are clicking on all cylinders offensively yet. I think there is a lot of improvement that we can still make and that is what is exciting to me about this squad. They find a way to win games and they just keep grinding it out. That's a great fiber to have.
"Our kids have worked hard, but its only 4-1. We haven't gotten anything done yet and we have a lot of season still to play."
Navy trailed by eight points at 37-29 with 15:37 left in the contest and also trailed by six at 42-36 with 7:45 remaining before reeling off its 13-0 run over a six-minute span to retake the lead.
Sophomore forward Jace Hogan had a dunk off a feed from senior center Will Kelly and then senior guard Tilman Dunbar scored on a reverse layup to quickly cut the lead to two points. Navy continued to get defensive stops and two free throws each from Dunbar and Kelly put the Mids ahead with 4:45 remaining.
Navy continued its run when junior guard Tim Abruzzo deflected a pass and sophomore guard Shawn Anderson passed the ball ahead to Abruzzo who streaked down the court for a fastbreak dunk and then Anderson rattled home a jumper to give Navy a 49-42 edge with 1:41 left in the game.
Navy continued to make its free throws as Dunbar, Hogan and junior guard Zach Fong all went 2-of-2 from the line in the last minute as Navy sealed the eight-point win.
Kelly's defense was the story of the first half as the big man blocked five of his game-high six stuffs in the opening 13 minutes. Kelly has blocked 14 shots in Navy's last two games and he ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA this season in overall blocks (53).
Navy held a 13-9 lead in the first half after two straight buckets from Anderson and Hogan, but Loyola went on a 16-4 run to take a 25-17 edge with a minute to play in the period.
Navy chipped away at the lead as junior forward Tom Lacey made two free throws and then junior guard Nourse Fox sunk a 25-foot buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut Loyola's halftime lead to just four.
The Mids overcame a cold night shooting and 18 turnovers to pull out the home victory. Navy shot just 29 percent in the first half and was just 21 percent (3-of-14) from 3-point range in the contest.
Dunbar went 9-of-10 from the free throw line to finish with 15 points and Hogan added 10 points to score in double figures for the 11th time this season.
Anderson tallied eight points with four boards and Lacey had six points and four rebounds.
Abruzzo filled up the stat sheet with five points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Andre Walker led Loyola with 15 points with five rebounds and four steals, while Eric Laster had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Navy held Loyola to 31 percent shooting (16-of-52) and held its eighth opponent this season to under 60 points.
Navy will next host Lafayette (5-11, 2-3 PL) on Saturday at 7:00 PM.
