Jan. 2, 2009

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Chris Harris scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures and help the Mids to a 75-70 victory over Wofford on Friday night before a season-high 1,650 fans at Alumni Hall. The win improved Navy's overall record to 10-4, while Wofford dropped to 4-5.

The win also enabled Navy to keep its home record perfect at 7-0, and ran the Mids' non-conference home winning streak to nine straight, dating back to last year. Navy finished its home non-conference slate with a 7-0 record, the program's first undefeated home non-conference mark since joining the Patriot League and moving into Alumni Hall in the 1991-92 season.

"That was a good team victory for us. That was a good basketball team we beat tonight," said Navy head coach Billy Lange, who won his 99th career game in his seventh season as a collegiate head coach. "They make you play them on both ends. They take good shots and really are patient offensively. I thought we showed some toughness when they made their runs. I thought we just played with a great team attitude tonight and played with a lot of focus. We have a lot of room to get better, but I was very encouraged by what I saw tonight."

For the first time since Dec. 18, 2005, Navy placed five players in double figures, led by Harris' 17. Adam Teague tallied 16 points, O.J. Avworo scored a career-high 12 points and Clif Colbert and Kaleo Kina added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Lange said the balanced scoring is something he would like to see every night.

"It's a great sign. It felt right, and it's a sign of ball movement," said Lange. "We have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball and tonight the ball moved around very well. We got good shots and O.J. did a great job making good decisions at the point and we got in a very good rhythm offensively."

Avworo played his best game as the Navy point guard, scoring a career-high 12 points, while equaling a career high with eight assists, against just two turnovers, in 32 minutes.

His effort helped Navy to turn the ball over just nine times, matching a season low.

"Obviously, we are excited to have a pure point guard (Avworo) and he just fits in what we are trying to do," said Lange. "He has come a long ways in the two months and has gotten a lot better. I feel that the team will develop as he continues his development. We still need to get better defensively, but O.J. has really improved on the offensive end."

"There is a lot going into being a point guard, especially under coach Lange," said Avworo. "He has high expectations, and he asks a lot on every end in terms as far as leadership and running the offense. I am starting to feel more comfortable and just keep looking to improve."

The Mids opened up a 15-6 lead just five minutes into the contest, but Wofford ran off the game's next 10 points to take a 16-15 advantage with 12:09 to play. The lead traded hands four more times in the first half, but the Mids ended the first half on an 18-11 run over the last 9:10, taking a seven-point halftime lead at 38-31 on Avworo's long three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

The Terriers scored the first six points of the second half to cut the Navy lead to one at 38-37, but the Mids would respond with a 10-4 spurt to push the lead back to 48-41.

Wofford tied the game at 48 with 11:53 to play, but it was the last time the game would be tied.

Leading 57-55 with 5:07 left to play, the Mids went on a 10-4 run, including three-pointers by Adam Teague and Chris Harris to give the Mids a 67-59 lead with 1:32 to play. The Mids then closed out the game at the free throw line, converting on 10-of-11 free throws in the last 1:32 of the contest for the 75-70 victory.

The Mids had a tough time on the interior, stopping Wofford's 1-2 inside punch of Noah Dahlman and Tim Johnson. Dahlman and Johnson combined for 42 points and 21 rebounds and went 18-of-30 from the field. The Terriers outscored Navy in the the paint, 44-30. In addition, the Terriers outrebounded the Mids, 34-27.

"Overall, it was definitely too easy in the post. They made some tough shots and we tried to make them work some on their posts, but they were getting the ball in good position," said Lange. "The thing is that defense in the post really determines how good you are going to be defensively. The ball got in so deep that is was basically a catch and shoot for a lay-up, and we couldn't really run our defense. We just have to work on it. They did a great job and give them credit. They came in here wanting to get the ball inside and they did that. We knew they were going to come at us inside. On the perimeter, we were fine. We just struggled some on the inside."

The Mids shot 50.0 percent for the second straight game, connecting on 27-of-54 field goal attempts, including 9-of-25 (.360) from the three-point line, and 12-of-14 (.857) from the free throw line. The Mids recorded assists on 16-of-27 made baskets.

Wofford, who was led by Dahlman's 22 points and Johnson's 20 points and 16 rebounds, shot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field, but just 4-of-16 (.250) from three-point range. The 48.3 percent was a high against Navy this season. The Terriers committed 12 turnovers, but recorded 18 assists, including 11 by freshman guard Jason Dawson, on the 29 made baskets.

Navy will end its non-conference slate on Monday night, with a 7:00 pm tilt at Elon in Elon, N.C. A win would give Navy its most non-conference wins in a season since joining the Patriot League in the 1991-92 season. The Elon game will be carried by WNAV (1430 AM), beginning at 6:45 pm.

# GO NAVY #