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Jan. 5, 2009

Box Score

ELON, N.C. -- The Navy men's basketball team outscored Elon, 8-0, in the final 1:52 of the game to rally the Midshipmen to a 66-62 victory over the Phoenix on Monday night at Alumni Gym. The win allowed Navy to post an 11-4 record in non-conference play as the Mids will host Bucknell in the Patriot League opener on Saturday night at 5:00 pm in Alumni Hall. Elon fell to 4-6 overall.

The 11 non-conference wins are the most for the program since joining the Patriot League in 1991-92, and the win was the team's third in a row, including second straight over a Southern Conference opponent.

In addition, the victory was the 100th in head coach Billy Lange's career. He owns a 61-70 record in his fifth year at Navy and went 39-19 in two years at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. His career record now stands at 100-89.

Navy rallied late in the game behind its defense, as it held the Phoenix scoreless for the final 1:52 of the contest. The Phoenix were held scoreless on their final four possessions, while Navy scored on all four of its possessions.

"Our guys just have great confidence in end-of-game situations, even when we were losing games early in our seniors' careers," said Lange. "We practiced those situations a lot and know what we are doing. We know how to play in those situations and we showed great toughness."

The Mids improved to 6-1 in games decided by five or fewer points.

"I thought they had great energy in the second half," said Lange. "We still held a lead, but we were kind of just hanging on. They settled first and played a little better. We settled last and we'll take that at the end."

Elon held a 62-58 lead with 1:52 to play when Navy started its rally. Adam Teague, a Hickory, N.C., native who was playing in front of about 100 family and friends, drilled just Navy's third three-pointer of the contest to cut the Elon lead to one at 62-61.

After a Phoenix turnover, Chris Harris missed a runner, but Mark Veazey tipped in the miss, one of Navy's six offensive rebounds in the contest, to give the Mids a 63-62 advantage with 42 seconds left.

Elon then committed two more turnovers on its next two possessions, and Harris and Teague made three-of-four free throws in the final 23 seconds left to give the Mids a 66-62 cushion. Teague then grabbed a rebound in traffic in the final seconds and the Midshipmen ran out the clock for the four-point victory.

"He (Teague) was a little antsy at the start of the game, but he made some big plays at the end for us with the three, the free throw and the rebound," said Lange. "I was excited for him and Scott Brooks (a Raleigh native) also had a strong game for us, and made a big play for us with a deflection late in the game."

Navy led at halftime, 35-30, after a first half in which the Mids led by no more than five points. Elon led once in the first half at 17-16 with 9:50 to play.

Chris Harris led Navy with 14 points and three assists and seniors Clif Colbert and Kaleo Kina added 13 points each. Colbert came off the bench to also contribute seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and went 6-of-9 from the field. Adam Teague scored 11 points with five rebounds.

"Our seniors were absolutely huge tonight, especially at the end," said Lange. "Clif had a fantastic game off the bench, Kaleo played great defense on James (Elon's leading scorer at 15.6 ppg) and Adam stepping up and making a big shot. We have been very fortunate to win games late, and it says a lot about our character and leadership and the seniors have been outstanding this year as leaders."

Navy shot 25-of-53 (.472) from the field, but went just 3-of-16 (.188) from three-point range. The Mids were 13-of-18 (.722) from the free throw line and committed 18 turnovers.

Elon shot 23-of-54 (.426) from the field and was just 3-of-14 (.214) from three-point range. The Phoenix had 17 turnovers and outrebounded the Mids, 34-33. Ola Ateyobi and Chris Long had 14 points to lead Elon, while James had 10, being held to just one point in the second half.

Navy will host Bucknell in the Patriot League opener on Satuday at 5:00 pm at Alumni Hall. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. For ticket information, call 1-800-US4-NAVY or visit www.navysports.com.

# GO NAVY #