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Jan. 12, 2006

Box Score

Jan. 11, 2006

BETHLEHEM, Pa.-Jose Olivero scored 16 points and Mitch Gilfillan added 13 points on four three-point field goals to lead Lehigh (9-8, 2-0 in the Patriot League) to a 65-58 victory over a gutty Navy (6-8, 0-2 Patriot League) squad in front of 1,076 fans at Stabler Arena. Greg Sprink led Navy with 12 points, while Carlton Baldwin added 10 points and five rebounds.

"I was really proud of our guys tonight, I thought we played much better as a team," said Navy head coach Billy Lange. "We focused all of our energy on playing together and I thought we made great progress tonight. When we become a tougher defensive team down the stretch we will have a chance to win some of these games."

The Mids, playing without senior center and co-captain Matt Fannin for the second-straight game, fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half when Bryan White hit a lay-up with 3:40 left to give the Mountain Hawks a 26-16 lead.

Navy, however, would hang tough by outscoring Lehigh 9-2 over the final 3:23 to pull to within 28-25 at the half.

Navy continued its run to start the second half, outscoring Lehigh 14-4 in the first five minutes, to take a 39-32 lead on a Greg Sprink three-pointer with 15:18 remaining. Sprink and Carlton Baldwin sparked the Mids run with six points apiece,

The Mountain Hawks would answer Navy's run with one of its own, outscoring the Mids 9-0 over the next three minutes to take a 41-39 lead with 12:22 remaining.

The lead would change hands several times before Lehigh took the lead for good at 48-47 with 5:38 left on two Kyle Neptune free throws.

Joe Knight would give the Mountain Hawks a three point lead with a lay-up to make it 50-47 and then, after Corey Johnson was hammed driving to the basket and turned the ball over with no foul call, Lange was hit with a technical foul by official Mike Alvaro. Gilfillan hit one of two free throws and Olivero buried a jumper to make it 53-47 with 4:45 left.

Navy would trail by as many as eight points at 57-49 with 3:03 left on an Olivero lay-up before closing to within four on two different occasions. Leonard Green scored on a shot in the paint with 1:42 left to pull to within 60-56 and then, after Olivero sank two free throws to push Lehigh's lead back to six, Kaleo Kina hit a jumper to make it 62-58 with 1:07 left.

The Mids got a missed three-pointer from Gilfillan on Lehigh's next possession, but Kyle Neptune snuck in for the offensive rebound forcing Navy to foul Joe Knight with 26 seconds left. Knight made both free throws and then, after missed three-pointers by Johnson and Kina, sank one of two free throws to provide the final margin.

Johnson led the Mids in rebounding from his guard position, grabbing eight boards as the smaller Mids outrbounded the Mountain Hawks, 45-37. Johnson would also score nine points to go along with Kina's nine points and five rebounds. Green added eight points and six boards. Bryan White added 10 points and seven rebounds for Lehigh.

"I thought our inexperienced showed up down the stretch and our fouling really hurt us, but I can't be upset with how we played," said Lange.