Since the season began, Navy has lost its most productive big man from last season to a disciplinary action and its most productive big man of this season to a broken arm in practice last Sunday.
Matt Fannin tried to compensate for their losses with a career-high 19 rebounds and 16 points last night, but it wasn't enough as the Midshipmen fell to Patriot League rival American University, 66-60, at Alumni Hall.
Fannin's rebound total was the highest for Navy since David Robinson had 20 in 1987. But poor overall shooting (30 percent from the field, including an 8-for-29 rate from three-point range) doomed the Mids to their ninth straight loss to American.
Eagles coach Jeff Jones was not overly impressed with his team's play, but said, "We certainly responded to their challenge. They [Navy] are something different in terms of energy and enthusiasm. Obviously it wasn't pretty and we were fortunate to win. At times, it was a bloodbath."
Navy (4-10, 0-2) challenged American to the midpoint of the second half, when Eagles point guard Linas Lekavicius began penetrating and dishing off, enabling American to slowly build a 12-point cushion at 59-47.
Navy battled until the end, closing to within four with 13 seconds left on a three-pointer by Taj Mathews, but lost its fourth straight and eighth in the past nine games.
Still, coach Billy Lange said there were "signs that we're getting better. We have two big-time front-line players out [suspended Carlton Baldwin and injured Lamarie Mergerson] and these guys battle to the very end. ... If a couple of those threes go down, we're probably sitting here a lot happier."
American (8-6, 1-1) was playing its third game in five days, but did not run out of gas, matching Navy's intensity when it counted.
"Navy's going to make a lot of people uncomfortable in this league," said Jones.
Jason Thomas led the Eagles with 17 points while Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Andre Ingram was rationed to 11, primarily by Mathews.
AMERICAN - Okpwas 2-9 2-6 6, Cresnik 4-10 0-0 9, Thomas 6-9 2-2 17, Ingram 4-9 3-4 11, Lekavicius 2-5 5-6 9, Lewis 1-2 0-0 2, Billbe 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 0-2 0-0 0, Petrauskas 4-6 4-4 12. Totals 23-52 16-22 66.
NAVY - Fannin 5-11 6-9 16, Biles 3-5 0-0 6, Johnson 2-11 1-2 6, Mathews 2-6 1-2 7, Sprink 3-12 0-0 9, Hooper 2-15 0-0 6, Green 0-0 0-0 0, O'Garro 5-11 0-0 10, Rhoiney 0-1 0-0 0, Higgins 0-0 0-0 0, Hudson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-73 8-13 60.
Halftime- American, 29-28. 3-point goals-American 4-15 (Cresnik 1-7, Thomas 3-6, Lekavicius 0-1, Graham 0-1). Navy 8-29 (Johnson 1-4, Mathews 2-5, Sprink 3-8, Hooper 2-12). Rebounds- Am. 44 (Thomas 9), Navy 44 (Fannin 19). Assists- Am. 11 (Lekavicius 6), Navy 15 (Johnson 5). Fouls-Am. 17, Navy 19. A-1,195.
