Nov. 18, 2016

Navy-North Dakota State Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The Navy men's basketball team (1-2) was edged out by North Dakota State (3-0), 66-59, in the opening game of the three-day HPU Tournament at High Point's Millis Center on Friday afternoon.

Navy rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit and led by one point in the final three minutes, but the Mids couldn't make the game-sealing plays on the offensive end and struggled on the defensive end to get the stops they needed.

"The kids fought hard and we had a chance," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. "We had the lead and the ball, but we couldn't make the big baskets that we needed and North Dakota State made the plays they needed to."

North Dakota State made the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2015 and the Bison are currently ranked 19th in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

Navy jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a Hasan Abdullah 3-pointer and the lead grew to 9-5 when junior guard Bryce Dulin fed freshman center Evan Wieck for a bucket. Navy junior guard Tim Abruzzo converted a three-point play and another layup by Wieck extended Navy's lead to 16-13.

However, Navy began to get careless with the ball and committed back-to-back turnovers. The Bison seized the opportunity with a 9-2 run to pull ahead at 22-18 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Abdullah drew Navy even at 24-24. North Dakota State would then extend its halftime lead to six points at 32-26.

"We had 14 turnovers in the first half and I was surprised we were only down six," said DeChellis. "I thought we had much better focus in the second half."

After a bucket by North Dakota State's Carlin Dupree gave the Bison their largest lead of the game at nine points (37-28) early in the second half, the momentum would swing back in Navy's favor after DeChellis subbed junior guard Shawn Anderson back into the game playing with three fouls.

Anderson ignited a 12-4 run, scoring eight of the points himself, and the Mids retook the lead at 44-43 on a Ryan Pearson bucket with 8:24 remaining. The Mids and the Bison then battled back-and-forth for the next several minutes.

Abdullah drilled a 3-pointer late in the shot clock, only to have his trey matched by Tyson Ward on North Dakota State's next possession. Dulin gave Navy the lead again on a layup and then the Mids went up by three at 51-48 when Abdullah fed senior forward James Hemphill on a fastbreak layup.

North Dakota State chipped away at the lead, but Navy was able to stay in the game with free throws by Anderson and then two made free throws by junior forward Tom Lacey put the Mids ahead 54-53 with 2:42 to play.

However, Navy came up empty on its next three possessions and the Bison reeled off a 5-0 run on a jumper by big man Dexter Werner and three free throws to pull ahead by six points at 60-54.

Navy's Zach Fong came into the game and promptly hit a deep 3-pointer to cut the margin to three with 25 seconds left and then the Bison turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass. Unfortunately, Navy turned the ball over the following possession and four free throws by A.J. Jacobson put the game out of reach as the Bison would go on to win, 66-59.

North Dakota State's Werner finished with a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Ward added 12 off the bench.

For Navy, Abdullah knocked down four 3-pointers in the contest for 12 points and also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 31 minutes. Abdullah made six 3-pointers against Ohio State in Navy's season-opener.

After just missing a double-double against Washington College last Sunday (9 points, 10 rebounds), Lacey tallied seven points and seven rebounds on Friday. Lacey also had two highlight-reel blocks on a fastbreak dunk attempt by Dupree and a one-on-one dunk attempt by Werner, all in span of two minutes late in the first half.

Due to foul trouble, Anderson logged just 18 minutes, but did amass 10 points. Fellow starter Abruzzo left the game with an injury after scoring seven points with five rebounds in 19 minutes.

Wieck played the best game of his young career with eight points and four rebounds in 21 minutes.

Navy held a 33-32 rebounding edge over the Bison and grabbed 12 offensive boards. The Mids shot 40 percent from the field, while North Dakota State shot 49 percent.

Navy was hampered by 14 first-half turnovers, but took care of the ball much better in the second period to finish with 17 giveaways.

This was Navy's first-ever game against North Dakota State.

Navy will face tournament host High Point on Saturday at 4:00 PM and will then play UNCG on Sunday at 3:30 PM in the tournament finale.