Game Information
Columbia (3-4) at Navy (4-6)
Friday, December 9, 2016 | 7:00 PM (ET)
Annapolis, Md. | Alumni Hall (5,710)
Radio: 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's basketball team (4-6) will host Columbia (3-4) on Friday at 7 PM at Alumni Hall. Navy is coming off a 25-point comeback win over Bryant on Tuesday. Navy trailed 49-24 at halftime but rallied for a 76-74 victory. Friday's game's will have free live video on the Patriot League Network and on navysports.com. The game can also be heard on the radio on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV in Annapolis. Pete Medhurst and Michael Heary will handle the broadcasting duties on the live video stream and on the radio. Live statistics will also be available.

Midshipmen Storylines
• Navy is coming off an historic 25-point comeback win over Bryant on Tuesday.
• Navy trailed 49-24 at halftime, but opened the second half on a 25-5 run and rallied for a 76-74 win.
• Junior forward Tom Lacey gave Navy its first lead of the game at 73-72 with just 38 seconds left and junior guard Shawn Anderson scored the game-winning layup with 13 seconds left.
• Sophomore forward George Kiernan helped seal the win by drawing an offensive charge with seven seconds left.
• Lacey led Navy with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Lacey set a school record with 11 offensive rebounds.
• Kiernan scored 14 points, while senior guard Zach Fong and junior guard Bryce Dulin each scored 12.
• Anderson finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
• The 25-point comeback was the largest in school history, the second-largest halftime comeback overcome to win a game in NCAA history and was tied for the 11th-largest comeback overall overcome to win a game in NCAA history.
• The only game in NCAA history that saw a larger halftime deficit overcome for a win was Duke vs. Tulane on Dec. 30, 1950. Tulane led Duke by 29 at halftime at 56-27, but Duke rallied for a 74-72 win.
• Navy's previous largest comeback overcome for a win was 16 points, which the Mid achieved twice.
• According to KenPom, Bryant's win probability was at about 98 percent at halftime.
• With the win over Bryant, Navy improved to 4-1 at home this season with its only home loss coming against Ohio State in the Veterans Classic.
• Anderson also scored the game-winning layup in Navy's 70-68 win over Penn with 16 seconds left on on Nov. 26.
• Anderson leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game this season.
• Senior guard Tim Abruzzo is second on the team in scoring with 9.3 points per game. Abruzzo returned from a six-game injury absence for the Bryant game.
• Kiernan is third on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game and sophomore guard Ryan Pearson is fourth at 8.2.
• Lacey is averaging 7.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
• His 17 rebounds against Bryant were the most by a Navy player since Matt Fannin had 19 against American in the 2004-05 season.
• Lacey ranks third in the conference in overall rebounding (7.4) and is first in offensive rebounds per game (3.0).
• Sophomore point guard Hasan Abdullah ranks third in the Patriot League in steals per game (1.7) and is 10th in assists per game (3.0).
• As a team, Navy ranks first in the Patriot League in rebounds allowed (29.6) and is first in rebounding margin (+3.7). The Mids are second in scoring defense (68.9).
• Navy has had 11 different players score in double figures in a game this season.
• Grant Vermeer has been nominated to the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team.

Columbia Storylines
• Columbia enters the game at 3-4 and its last game was a 95-71 loss at Seton Hall on December 1.
• Columbia owns wins over Stony Brook (73-66), Quinnipiac (86-78) and Colgate (81-78 OT) this season.
• The Lions fell to Army West Point, 88-83, on Nov. 23.
• Junior guard Nate Hickman leads the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game.
• Hickman poured in 30 points in the loss to Army.
• Senior forward Luke Petrasek is averaging 16.3 points and 7.9 rebounds.
• Columbia leads the Ivy League in scoring offense (77.9), field-goal percentage (.468) and 3-point field goal percentage (.380). The Lions are second in the Ivy in 3-pointers made per game (9.0).
• Columbia was 25-10 last season and 10-4 in the Ivy League.
• The Lions won the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament in 2015-16, with wins over Norfolk State, Ball State, NJIT and UC Irvine.
• However, Columbia graduated its top three scorers from last year and head coach Kyle Smith departed for the head job at San Francisco.
• Jim Engles is in his first season at Columbia, arriving after eight years as the head coach at NJIT.
• Engles was previously an assistant coach at Columbia from 2003 to 2008 under Joe Jones. Jones is currently the head coach at Patriot League-member Boston University.

Series History vs. Columbia
• Navy and Columbia will be meeting for the 36th time overall and for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
• Columbia leads the all-time series against Navy, 19-16.
• Columbia won the last meeting, 69-63, on Jan. 17, 2005, in Annapolis.
• Navy and Columbia first met in Navy's inaugural season in 1907-08.
• Columbia defeated Navy, 37-23, on Jan. 18, 1908.
• This will be just the third meeting between Navy and Columbia since 1959.
• This is Navy's second game against an Ivy League school this season.
• Navy defeated Penn, 70-68, on Nov. 26.

Looking Ahead
• Navy will next take a 12-day break from games for final exams and will resume the season at Hartford on Dec. 22.
• The Hawks are 2-8 as of Dec. 8.
• Navy and Hartford will be meeting for the first time.
• Navy is 18-12 all-time against the America East.

Promotions
• The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free Navy Anchor Holiday Hat.
• Bring a new unwrapped toy and receive free admission as part of the Navy Basketball Toys for Tots Drive.
• Free admission to the game with proof of purchase of Saturday's Army-Navy football game ticket.

Parking / Shuttle Information
All fans attending the game are encouraged to park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Fans can enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. and pay $5 for parking. The shuttle is free and the pick up and drop off spot is in front of the Blue Angel plane. The shuttle will run from one hour before the start of the game to one hour after the game concludes. Fans ages 18 and over need photo ID to enter the Academy. Parking at the stadium is the best option for fans attending the game. Due to Naval Academy security restrictions, the general public can not drive their vehicles on to the Yard. The pedestrian entries at Gate 1, Gate 3 and Gate 8, will be open.