Dec. 30, 2008

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Kaleo Kina hit two free throws with 7.3 seconds left and E.J. Dawson's last-second lay-up attempt rolled off the front of the rim to allow the Navy men's basketball team to escape with an 81-80 victory over Longwood in front of a season-high 1,625 fans at Alumni Hall.

The loss snapped a two-game losing streak for the Midshipmen, improving their record to 9-4 overall, while Longwood fell to 6-8 overall. Navy also remained unbeaten at Alumni Hall, as the Mids have won all six of their home games this year.

"Longwood played a great game tonight. They are a very athletic and active team that came in with confidence and really defended us well," said Navy head coach Billy Lange, who won his 98th career game in his seventh season as a collegiate head coach. "To our guys credit, we were able to execute a couple of late-game situations in both the first half and end of regulation. I don't think we deserved to lose the game, but neither did Longwood. They played a great game and deserve a lot of credit for that."

The Mids held off a spirited Lancers' rally in the second half as the Mids jumped out to their largest lead of the game moments into the second half at 49-34 with 18:57 to play on an O.J. Avworo lay-up. However, Longwood countered with a 13-2 run to trim the margin to 51-47 with 13:30 to play.

Navy appeared to regain control with its own 13-4 run, capped off by a Mark Veazey layup to take a 64-51 advantage with 9:15 to play.

But Longwood responded, and drew to within three at 77-74 with 2:23 to play on a Kevin Swecker four-point play. A pair of Clif Colbert free throws pushed the lead back to five at 79-74, but the Lancers scored the next six points for an 80-79 lead on a Swecker jumper with 11.2 seconds left.

Lange drew up a play for Kaleo Kina out of a time-out and the senior guard drove the length of the court and was fouled, injuring his right shoulder in the process. However, Kina calmly stepped to the line and drilled both free throws for an 81-80 lead with 7.3 seconds left.

Longwood ran a play for E.J. Dawson, clearing out the middle and letting him drive, but his layup ran off the front of the rim and Kina grabbed the rebound, sealing Navy's one-point victory.

Longwood got back in the game in the second half after connecting on 17-of-36 (.472) field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes, including 7-of-14 (.500) from three-point range. In the first half, Longwood connected on just 13-of-33 (.394) field goal attempts and 5-of-13 (.385) three-point tries.

"Our overall ability to not play any defense tonight was disappointing. We don't focus on any one statistic defensively, but our defense was non-existent tonight," said Lange. "Collectively, our guys made a decision that defense was not going to be important tonight. If we continue to do that, its going to be a long season.

"It was frustrating because we had been staying in games and winning games with our defense, and this is the first group that had really bought into defense," continued Lange. "We just didn't have that attitude tonight and they took advantage. We have a chance to be a good team, but our guys have to learn how to become complemented without becoming complacent. It's a decision. You make a choice to play defense, and we chose not to tonight."

The Mids were missing their best defensive player in Romeo Garcia, who suffered a hamstring injury this week in practice. The injury was a different setback to the one Garcia suffered in the preseason, and could miss up to a month of action.

"It hurts us, but we played the first five games without him and went 4-1 and played pretty good defense," said Lange. "He is certainly a skilled defender, but he can't guard or block out five guys. He can't help everybody. It might have made a little difference, but we just lost focus on details tonight."

"We have to settle down and get back to basics on the defensive end. You have five players on the floor and if one isn't pulling his weight, it affects you," said Kina. "I was a defensive liability tonight and that's why I wasn't on the floor tonight. I couldn't argue with him, because I wasn't playing defense. It starts with me as a senior and I have to help lead this team. When I am not leading this team defensively, I am not doing my job as a leader. It has to start with defense for us and tonight it didn't, and it almost cost us."

The Mids played a strong first half in bolting to a 44-34 lead at the halftime break. Navy jumped out to a 10-3 lead with 16:31 to play, but Longwood held a 27-25 lead with 5:58 to play. Navy ended the half on a 19-7 lead, fueled by three three-pointers by Chris Harris and one each by Adam Teague and Kina.

The Mids shot 18-of-31 (.581) from the field in the first half and 6-of-11 (.545) from three-point range. For the game, Navy shot 30-of-60 (.500) from the field, 8-of-21 (.381) from long distance and 13-of-22 (.591) from the free throw line. Navy committed 17 turnovers, including 10 in the second half, and outrebounded the Lancers, 42-34. Navy also committed a season-low 12 personal fouls.

Longwood shot 30-of-69 (.435) from the field, 12-of-27 (.444) from three-point range and 8-of-12 (.667) from the free throw line. The Lancers had just 10 turnovers and recorded 20 assists on their 30 made baskets.

Kina led Navy with 21 points (8-of-13 shooting) and had four rebounds and four assists. Harris added 20 points, six rebounds and two assists, while connecting on three more three-pointers. Mark Veazey also was in double figures with 12 points and nine rebounds. Avworo, Teague and Clif Colbert each had eight points.

Ryan Bogan led Longwood with 21 points, while Dana Smith scored 19.

Navy will be in action on Friday night in Alumni Hall as it closes out its non-conference slate against a very good Wofford team. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the game of by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.

# GO NAVY #