The Navy men's basketball team will close the first half of the Patriot League season Wednesday night when the Mids (10-10, 3-5) face Bucknell (8-13, 1-7) in Lewisburg, Pa.
Five Starting Notes
1 – The Navy-Bucknell series began 103 years ago when the teams played Jan. 31, 1920. This will be the 87th meeting.
2 –
Daniel Deaver (55) and
Tyler Nelson (39) have combined for 94 career points against Bucknell. The remainder of the current Mids have totaled 55 career points against the Bison.
3 – Wednesday's game will be the ninth in the 18-game Patriot League season. Bucknell and American (Jan. 28) are the only two teams in the league the Mids have not yet faced this year.
4 – Members of the Class of 2023 combined for 71 of the Navy's 77 points in the team's win at Army on Saturday.
5 – Navy ranks second in the Patriot League and is tied for seventh place in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage. Colgate leads the league and is in fourth place nationally in three-point field goal percentage. The Patriot League as a whole ranks second among all conferences in three-point field goal percentage.
Game Day Info
• The game will be streamed through ESPN+.
• The game will be carried on WNAV (AM-1430, FM-99.9, www.wnav.com, Audacy app).
• Live statistics will be available through NavySports.com.
Last Game - Navy 77, Army 71
• Army took a 35-23 lead before Navy drew to within 37-31 late in the first half.
• After the teams went into halftime with the Black Knights in front, 39-31, they took a 43-31 advantage in the opening minutes of the second half.
• Navy tied the game at 48-48 and took its first lead at 51-50. That would be the first of 10 lead changes in the second half, with what proved to be the last one coming by the Mids at 64-63 with five minutes left.
• The score was tied for the fifth time in the second half at 66-66 with 2:55 left on the clock.
Tyler Nelson drilled a three-point basket on the next Navy possession to start an 8-0 run that boosted the Mids to a 74-66 lead with just under one minute remaining. The margin stayed at least five points the rest of the way.
• Navy outscored Army 46-28 in the last 18 minutes.
• Nelson scored 14 second-half points, totaled 16 points in the game and snared seven rebounds.
• Senior
Christian Jones, who had not played in an Army-Navy in his career, was 7-9 from the floor (3-3 after halftime) and 4-6 from three-point range in scoring a career-high 21 points.
About Bucknell
• Bucknell has posted an overall record of 8-13 this season and is 1-7 in Patriot League play.
• Six of Bucknell's league losses have been by eight or fewer points, including a seven-point overtime loss at Lafayette. The one additional defeat for the Bison was a 10-point loss at Loyola.
• Their seven league losses have been by an average of 6.9 points and their four home league losses have been by a total of 33 points.
Series History
• The series began Jan. 31, 1920, when Navy won a 15-13 game in Annapolis.
• Bucknell holds a 44-42 advantage in the all-times series, which includes a 29-8 lead in games played in Lewisburg and a 19-5 lead in games played in Sojka Pavilion.
• Bucknell leads Navy, 35-27, in Patriot League regular season games played between the teams. This includes leads of 23-8 in league games played at Lewisburg and a 15-5 advantage in Sojka Pavilion.
• Navy has won the last seven games in the series, which includes three wins in a row in Lewisburg.
Miscellaneous Game Records
• The Mids have tallied a 383-262 record against teams located in Pennsylvania.
• Navy has recorded an 78-138 mark in games played in Pennsylvania.
• Navy has posted a 12-9 record in games played on Jan. 25. This includes a 3-5 record in Patriot League regular season games played on the date.
Up Next
• Navy will be back in Alumni Hall Saturday for its first game of the season against American.
• The Eagles head into a Wednesday game at home against Army with an overall record of 12-7.
• American began the Patriot League season with a 4-0 record but has since posted an 0-4 record.
