Nov. 7, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy will open up its second century of play on Friday night when it tips off against Longwood in Farmville, Va., at 7:00 pm. The Mids are coming off a 14-16 season and return six letterwinners off last year's team. The 14 wins were the most for the Navy program since the 2000-01 team went 19-12.

Navy will have a quick turnaround as it will travel to 2007 NIT participant Drexel on Sunday at 4:00 pm in Philadelphia. The Mids will stay overnight in Farmville on Friday night following the opener, bus the five-plus hours to Philly on Saturday morning and practice at Drexel on Saturday evening, before battling the Dragons on Sunday.

NAVY HAS BEEN STRONG IN SEASON OPENERS
Navy is 75-25 all-time in season openers, after defeating Loyola (Md.) last year, 73-61, in the 2KSports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Mids are, however, just 3-7 in the last 10 season openers, and are 1-2 under head coach Billy Lange.
• Navy is just 4-14 all-time in season openers played in true away games, and hasn't been victorious in a season opener on the road in its last 10 tries. Navy's last season-opening road win came on Nov. 28, 1987 (Mount. St. Mary's, 80-75).

MORE ABOUT LONGWOOD
Longwood is officially in its first season of Division I basketball after completing the NCAA's mandatory four-year reclassification process. The Lancers went 9-22 a year ago playing an independent schedule. Longwood will remain an independent this year, but will face a rather challenging schedule, including Indiana, Kent State, Virginia, VCU, George Washington, Boston College and Hofstra. Longwood will return two starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team, including Kirk Williams (10.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Brandon Giles (5.9 ppg) and Lamar Barrett (5.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg).

NAVY-LONGWOOD: THE SERIES
Navy leads the all-time series with Longwood, 3-0, outscoring the Lancers by almost 10 points a game during the three games. The Mids needed overtime a year ago to top Longwood, 61-59, rallying from a seven-point deficit with just 3:30 to play to earn the win at Willett Hall. Navy used a 20-4 run at the end of regulation and overtime to build a nine-point lead, then held on at the end.
• Head coach Billy Lange is 3-0 all-time against teams currently in independent status and the Mids are 4-0 all-time against independent teams.
• This will mark the 220th game against a team from the state of Virginia. Just two states, Pennsylvania (389) and New York (245), have had more games played against it. The 136 wins against schools from Virginia are also the second most behind Pennsylvania (205) and New York (137).
• Head coach Billy Lange is 3-1 against Division I teams from Virginia.

NAVY-LONGWOOD CONNECTIONS
• Longwood assistant coach Tim Fudd played at American from 1991-96, earning All-CAA honors in 1993-94. He never played against Navy.
• Just one Navy player, Chris Harris, hails from Virginia. However, he grew up just 70 miles from Farmville, in Mechanicsville.
• Longwood boasts three players from the state of Maryland, including Brandon Giles (Gaithersburg; 50 miles from Annapolis), Billy Robinson (Columbia; 32 miles from Annapolis) and Kevin Swecker (Manchester; 60 miles from Annapolis).
• Perhaps the two most famous athletic alums of the respective schools, David Robinson (Navy 1984-87) and Jerome Kersey (Longwood 1982-84), starred at the same time in the NBA, and were later teammates on the San Antonio Spurs in 1999-2000. In head-to-head battles, Robinson got the better of Kersey, posting a 14-12 record (mostly against Kersey's Trailblazers) and averaging 26.0 ppg and 13.3 rpg in 26 games against Kersey. Kersey averaged 7.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg in the 26 contests.

ON THIS DATE
• Navy has never played before on Nov. 9, making this game the earliest starting date for a Navy team in school history. Last year's team opened on Nov. 10, the previous earliest starting date in school history.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING
Navy escaped Longwood last year on the eve of the Army-Navy football game, 61-59, in overtime. The win moved Navy's record to 6-2.
• Greg Sprink scored 16 points with nine rebounds, but the Mids were sloppy in the victory, committing 16 turnovers and shooting just 35.1 percent from the field. However, the Navy defense forced 17 Longwood miscues and held the Lancers to shoot just 36.7 percent, including 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from long distance.
• Navy trailed 46-39 with 3:30 to play in the second half, before Corey Johnson rallied the Mids. Johnson converted on four free-throw attempts in the last minute of the game to send the contest into overtime. Navy ended the second half and started overtime on a 20-4 run over six minutes to finally take control.
• One of the nation's best free throw shooting teams, Navy shot just 12-of-19 from the stripe.
• The Mids were 16-of-53 (30.2 percent) from the floor in regulation, but were 4-of-4 (100.0 percent) in overtime.

NAVY STOCK TIPS
• Navy begins its 101st season, with an all-time record of 1,237-853 (59.2 percent). The Mids own eight 20-win seasons, and have recorded a winning record in 67 of their first 100 seasons.
• Lange welcomes back six of the top eight scorers from last year's squad, including two starters.
• Under head coach Billy Lange, the Mids are 24-9 when leading at halftime and have won 11 games in a row, including an 11-0 mark last year. Conversely, the Mids are 9-41 when trailing at halftime under Lange, and have lost 11 in a row.
• Navy is 25-8 under Lange when leading with 10:00 left with 11 wins in a row and are 29-3 when leading with 5:00 left with 12 wins in a row.
• When Navy attempts more free throws than its opponent, the Mids are 21-5 under Lange with nine straight wins. Navy went 8-0 in games last year when attempting more free throws.
• Navy was 7-1 a year ago when shooting better than 45.0 percent, and are 15-7 under Lange when reaching 45.0 percent. On the flipside, Navy was just 3-10 when opponents shot over 45.0 percent a year ago and are 7-33 under Lange.
• Navy went 10-0 last year when scoring 70 or more points, and is 26-11 under Lange when reaching 70 points.
• Navy is just 4-39 under Lange, including 1-13 last year, when scoring under one point per possession.
• Navy was 10-1 when at least three players scored in double figures in 2006-07.
• No team scored 80 points against Navy last year.
• Navy averaged 61.8 ppg last year, its third-lowest total since the 1951 season.
• Navy is 27-9 (.750) since the start of the 1999-2000 season when shooting over 50.0 percent in a contest. Under Billy Lange, the Mids are 9-2, and have won eight straight games.
• Navy is 60-12 (.833) since the start of the 1999-2000 season when scoring at least 75 points in a game. Under Billy Lange, the Mids are 18-5 (.783) and have won seven games in a row when scoring at least 75 points.

# GO NAVY #