Feb. 14, 2009
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy handed the Lafayette men's basketball team a 90-67 loss on Saturday night in Alumni Hall.
The story of the game was turnovers. The Midshipmen capitalized with 31 points off Lafayette's 21 turnovers whereas the Leopards chipped in six points off Navy's 17 turnovers.
Chris Harris fired off 28 points, leading the Midshipmen to a 50 percent outing from the field. Clif Colbert and Kaleo Kina chipped in 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Freshman forward Ryan Willen posted his third double-double of the year with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Also joining him in double digit scoring were juniors Michael Gruner (career-high 15 points) and Jeff Kari (11 points).
Harris started Navy's attack early when picked off two Lafayette passes and followed with layups. But Willen, Gruner and Andrew Brown drained three straight treys to take an 11-10 lead at 15:58.
Lafayette extended its lead to 16-15, but Navy responded with a 16-2 run capped by a Colbert's layup with 10:09 remaining in the first. Gruner hit a pair of free throws to break the drought, 31-20.
With eight minutes remaining, Harris took over with three straight scores, including back-to-back treys. The Midshipmen went on to lead 50-35 at the half after converting 58.8 percent from the field.
The teams traded scores to open the half, but after the first media timeout at 15:57, Navy scored eight points in a one-minute span. The Mids never flinched the rest of the game.
The Leopards return to College Hill to finish three of their final four regular-season games at home, beginning with a 7 p.m. tip against Bucknell on Wednesday.
