Feb. 10, 2007
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EASTON, Pa. - Greg Sprink scored 29 points to lead Navy to a 70-63 win over Lafayette in Patriot League men's basketball action on Saturday at Kirby Sports Center.
Matt Betley had his second double-double of the season, both coming against the Midshipmen. Betley had 19 points and 12 rebounds at Navy on Jan. 13, and followed that up with 16 points and 10 boards on Saturday.
Bilal Abdullah (13 points, nine rebounds) and Andrew Brown (11 points, six boards, six assists) joined Betley in double figures for the Leopards. Kaleo Kina was the only other player to hit double figures for Navy, finishing with 10 points.
Lafayette jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first seven minutes, keyed by seven straight points from freshman Jesper Andersson. Navy answered with a 19-3 run over the next eight minutes, with a three-point play by Betley accounting for the Leopards' only points.
Sprink scored Navy's final seven points of the first half and the Mids led 35-28 at the break after a three-pointer by Abdullah with 20 seconds left.
The first two minutes of the second half were hotly contested, with a double foul and a double-technical foul assessed before the clock hit the 18:00 mark. Brown and Betley hit three's for the Leopards to cut the deficit to 37-34, but that was as close as Lafayette would get until a coast-to-coast layup by Abdullah made the score 55-53 with 5:16 left. That capped a 13-5 run by Lafayette, which featured six points by Abdullah and five from Brown, including a trio of free throws after being fouled behind the three-point line.
Navy responded to Lafayette's push with the next seven points, culminating with a three-pointer by Sprink from the top of the key with 1:29 remaining. The Leopards hit three triples in the final 1:21, but Navy was 8-for-10 from the line from that point to preserve the lead and improve to 3-7 in Patriot League play.
The Leopards will travel to Lewisburg, Pa. to face two-time defending champion Bucknell on Wednesday. Lafayette led the Bison at the half in a 67-61 loss on Jan. 17 at Kirby Sports Center. Bucknell gave Holy Cross its first league loss on Friday night, defeating the Crusaders 48-45.
